Final answer:
In statistics, the population consists of all subjects of interest, and the sample is a subset of the population. For Max's game purchasing scenario, the population is all available board and card games at the two shops, and any selection he makes from these would be a sample.
Step-by-step explanation:
When discussing statistics, the terms 'population' and 'sample' are essential to understand. The population is the entire group that you want to draw conclusions about, while the sample is the subset of the population that you actually observe or collect data from.
The parameter is a summary measure that describes an aspect of the entire population, and the statistic is a summary measure that describes an aspect of the sample. For example, in a study where a grocery store wants to know the average amount their customers spend on produce, the population would be all shopping visits by all the store's customers, and the sample would be the 1,000 visits drawn for the study. The parameter here would be the average expenditure on produce per visit by all the store's customers, and the statistic would be the average expenditure on produce per visit by the sample of 1,000.
In the context of Max purchasing games, the population would include all available board games and card games at the two shops since he is considering both types for his sister's birthday. A sample would then be a selection from this population, such as just the card games or just the board games if he decides to focus on one category for his decision-making process. Therefore, the best answer that describes the sample and population in Max's scenario would be: Sample: all available games at the two shops, Population: all available board and card games at the two shops.