The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that in 2018, 857 cyclists were killed on public roadways in the United States and that the average age of the cyclists killed was 47 years. These figures were based on an analysis of the records of all traffic-related deaths of cyclists on U.S. public roadways in 2018
(a) Does the group of 857 cycling fatalities represent a census or a sample of the cycling fatalities in 2018?
(b) If the population of interest is cycling fatalities in 2018, is the given average age of 47 years a statistic or a population characteristic?
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(a) The group of 857 cycling fatalities represents a sample of the cycling fatalities in 2018. This is because it is not feasible to analyze the records of every single cycling fatality that occurred in the United States in 2018.
(b) The given average age of 47 years is a statistic. Statistics are values calculated from a sample and are used to estimate population characteristics. In this case, the average age of 47 years is a statistic calculated from the sample of 857 cycling fatalities, and it is used to estimate the average age of all cycling fatalities in 2018.