Final answer:
The difference lies in scope: a population is a broad group while a target population is the specific group a study aims to assess. To study a target population, researchers use a sample that represents it.
Step-by-step explanation:
The major difference between a population and a target population is that a population refers to all members of a specified group, while a target population is the specific subset of the population that a survey or study aims to assess or understand. For example, if researchers are conducting a study on college athletes, the population could be all students, but the target population is specifically the group of college athletes among them.
To gather data, a sample, which is a manageable number of subjects representing the target population, is used to conduct surveys or studies, ensuring the sample is representative is crucial for the success of the research. In demographic studies, population size and density are key components that are studied to understand the characteristics of a population.