J. Chem. Ed. 60 (1991), pp.
902-903
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Why Do Random Samples Represent
Populations So Accurately?
Selecting samples from
large populations (sets or collections of numbers, measurements or observations
related to actual or conceptual situations) is sometimes the only way to obtain
certain statistical characteristics of the population without having to deal
with the huge amounts of available information. It is generally accepted that if the sample is large and taken at
random (selected without prejudice), then it quite accurately represents the
statistics of the population, such as distribution probability, mean, standard
deviation, etc. This paper provides a
simple and easy-to-follow proof for this.
