In statistical terms, what does population refer to?

• A. The collection of units to generalize findings.
• B. The subset of data actually observed in the study.
• C. The distribution of a variable in the sample.
• D. The sample mean.

Answer: (B)

Population refers to the entire group of units you want to generalize your findings to—the full set of individuals or items of interest. In most studies you can’t measure everyone, so you collect a sample, which is the subset actually observed. The distribution you see in the sample is the sample distribution, not the population distribution, and the sample mean is a statistic used to estimate the population mean, not the population mean itself. So the population is best described as the collection of units to generalize findings to.