If one is interested in measuring the variability in a complete population, one is using a(n) __________ measure. If one is interested in measuring the variability of a sample to generalize to an unknown population, one is using a(n) __________ measure.
A) standardized; inferential
B) descriptive; standardized
C) inferential; descriptive
D) descriptive; inferential

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

If one is interested in measuring the variability in a complete population, one is using a descriptive measure, such as the population standard deviation. If one is interested in measuring the variability of a sample to generalize to an unknown population, one is using an inferential measure, such as the sample standard deviation, which is used to estimate the population standard deviation. Therefore, the best choice is D, descriptive (for population variability) and inferential (for sample variability).

If One Is Interested in Measuring the Variability in a Complete