Snowball sampling is a form of sampling in which the selection of new sample subjects is suggested by prior subjects. From a statistical perspective, the method is prone to high variance and bias, compared to random sampling. The characteristics of the initial subject may propagate through the sample to some degree, and a sample derived by starting with subject 1 may differ from that produced by by starting with subject 2, even if the resulting sample in both cases contains both subject 1 and subject 2. However, …
Daily Archives: December 19, 2018
The Statistics of Christmas Trees
A researcher shakes a sprig from a Christmas tree, and counts the number of needles that fall. He then repeats the process for countless other sprigs. The sprigs are from a variety of species, and the goal is to determine which species do the best job of retaining their needles. Falling needles are a definiteContinue reading “The Statistics of Christmas Trees”