Question
One of the features of the sample mean that makes it a good estimator of a population mean $\mu$ is that the sample mean is an unbiased estimator. What does it mean for a statistic to be an unbiased estimator of a population parameter?
Step 1
An estimator is a statistic (a function of the data) that is used to infer the value of an unknown parameter in a statistical model. For example, the sample mean is an estimator of the population mean. Show more…
Show all steps
Your feedback will help us improve your experience
Kari Hasz and 88 other educators are ready to help you.
Ask a new question
Labs
Want to see this concept in action?
Explore this concept interactively to see how it behaves as you change inputs.
Key Concepts
Recommended Videos
What does it mean when we say that the sample mean is an unbiased estimator, or that the sample mean "targets" the population mean?
Normal Probability Distributions
Sampling Distributions and Estimators
What is an unbiased estimator? Is the sample variance an unbiased estimator of the population variance? Is the sample standard deviation an unbiased estimator of the population standard deviation?
Estimates and Sample Sizes
Estimating a Population Variance
Transcript
18,000,000+
Students on Numerade
Trusted by students at 8,000+ universities
Watch the video solution with this free unlock.
EMAIL
PASSWORD