A statistical study begins with a research question that we want to know about a population. A well-stated research question contains information about the population, what information is being collected called the variable, and a type of numerical characteristic related to the variable. For example; What percentage of U.S. adults support the death penalty? Do the majority of community college students qualify for federal student loan? Do cars get better gas mileage with a new gasoline additive? Are college athletes more likely that nonathletes to receive academic advising? The population is the entire group of objects that we want to study. This could be people, insects, printers, maple trees, or anything we want to study. Collecting data about the entire population is usually to time consuming and costly. Therefore, data is typically collected from a subset of the population called the sample. The sample should be collected in such a way that it represents the population. A sample statistic (or just statistic) is defined as any number computed from yoursample data. The sample statistic is then used to draw conclusions about the population