What does the prefix para in parametric statistics signify?

• A. Population
• B. Samples
• C. Variance
• D. Effect size

Answer: (A)

Para in parametric statistics signals relying on a description of the population through parameters. Parametric methods assume the data come from a population with a specific distribution, and that distribution is summarized by parameters (like the mean and variance). These parameters define the population, and the analysis uses them to make inferences about the population from the sample. So the prefix points to describing the population with its parameters, which is why this option about population best fits. The other concepts—focusing only on samples, or on a single metric like variance or an effect size—don’t capture this population-parameter description.