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What Is a Statistical Experiment?
The criteria for a statistical experiment with examples.
A statistical experiment is any procedure that:
- is infinitely repeatable.
- has a well-defined set of outcomes.
For Example — Coin Flipping
Flipping a coin is a statistical experiment because it can be repeated infinitely, and it has two (possibly three) outcomes:
- Heads,
- Tails,
- On its side (for the pedants),
In Contrast — Elections
The next person to win the presidential election is not a statistical experiment because it cannot be repeated infinitely (we can’t go back in time).
Even if we could go back in time, we wouldn’t have well-defined outcomes because it’s impossible to agree on who could become president.
Even if we defined our outcomes using the criteria set out in the Constitution:
- be a natural-born U.S. citizen of the United States;
- be at least 35 years old;
- be a resident in the United States for at least 14 years.
Our outcomes would still be poorly defined because re-running would cause different people to live and die. Thus our possible outcomes would change with every experiment.
Learn More
What do you call the collection of all possible outcomes of an experiment? Its Sample Space. You can read more about that here:
