sample

n. a subset of a population of interest that is selected for study with the aim of making inferences to the population. It is important to ensure that a sample is representative of the larger population. Characteristics that describe observations in this subset, such as the mean, median, or standard deviation, are called statistics.

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Psychology term of the day

December 21st 2024

self-selection bias

a type of bias that can arise when study participants choose their own treatment conditions, rather than being randomly assigned. In such cases, it is impossible to state unambiguously that a study result is due to the treatment condition and not to the preexisting characteristics of those individuals who chose to be in this condition. Also called self-selection effect. See also sampling bias.