Statistical population

What is population in statistics?

The statistical population consists of the collection of a set of items or subjects that have common characteristics, in order to study them and draw specific conclusions to determine results.

Depending on the size of the population studied, the result can be finite or infinite. If the result of the investigated sets is infinite, these are considered conceptual or artificial, since every population must have a specific result when being studied.

Statistical population types

There are several types of statistical population:

Finite population

That population that is composed of a small number of elements, articles or subjects.

For example: number of motorcycles sold during the month of September or number of students in a given school.

Infinite population

That population that is composed of a large number of elements.

For example: the number of liters of water in the sea or the number of grains of sand on a beach.

Real population

That population that is made up of a group of existing and merely verifiable things.

For example: the number of users who visit a website during a month or the number of seasons of a series.

Hypothetical population

That population made up of a possible group of certain things, but difficult to verify.

For example: how many people are supposed to survive a certain earthquake or how a certain population would react to an economic crisis.

Random population

That population that depends on the alteration of its qualities, without an apparent cause.

For example: the weight of a certain food that varies according to its size.

Dependent population

That population that depends on a certain cause.

For example: the increase in sales of a product during a good economic period in the country.

Polynomial population

That population whose characteristics must be measured and taken into account.

For example: when a population census is carried out, the characteristics and qualities (age, income) of the inhabitants will be different.

Statistical Population Examples

Here are some examples of statistical population:

• By setting the number of children that there is for each worker in a company, the company's employees would represent the population.
• When estimating the average cholesterol level of a country, all the inhabitants would be the population.
• To know how many people smoke cigarettes in a city, all the inhabitants of the city would be the population.
• When investigating how many schools in the country offer a comprehensive and effective education, the schools would be the population.