Question

A company is trying to determine if they should accept a shipment of toy parts. The shipment has over 1 million parts. They decided to randomly select 100 parts out of the shipment. They will only accept the shipment if 1% or less of all of the parts are defective. Out of the 100 selected, 4% are defective. Identify the numbers "1%" and "4%" as either statistics or parameters.

a. 4% is a statistic and 1% is a parameter
b. Both numbers are parameters.
c. Both numbers are statistics.
d. 4% is a parameter and 1% is a statistic

Answer 1

a. 4% is a statistic and 1% is a parameter

Step-by-step explanation:

A statistic is an estimate, for example, something for a sample extended to the entire population. In this problem, we have a shipment of over 1 million parts, and a sample of 100 is selected. Of those, 4% are defective. You have no idea that the 4% is true for the entire population, it is just an estimate. So the 4% is a statistic.

A parameter is something that is a fact about a whole population. For example, no matter the size of the shipment, it will only be accepted if 1% or less of all of the parts are defective. So 1% is a parameter.

So the correct answer is:

a. 4% is a statistic and 1% is a parameter