Final answer:
A 'parameter' refers to a characteristic or constant factor that describes a system. In the context of survey data, if the whole population is measured (like all U.S. high school seniors), the result is a parameter; if a sample is used, it's a statistic.
Step-by-step explanation:
The word that means "a characteristic or constant factor" is parameter. A parameter is a value, usually constant, that describes and helps to define a system, while a statistic is a value calculated from sample data and used to summarize or infer information about a population. For example, when the U.S. federal government surveys all high school seniors and finds that 50 percent are planning to attend a four-year college, this percentage is an example of a parameter since it pertains to the entire population. The same 50 percent would be a statistic if it were calculated from a sample of high school seniors.
Let's approach the related questions:
- When you calculate the 50 percent of high school seniors attending a four-year college from a sample, it is a statistic.
- An example of a parameter is when you calculate the same 50 percent but from the entire population of high school seniors.
- A disease constantly present in a population is endemic.
- The word closest in meaning to hypothesis is suggestion.
- The loudness of sound is described by intensity level or decibel.
- The observable traits of an organism are its phenotype.
- The mean amount spent on produce per visit by customers in a sample is a statistic.