There are'new symbolsto learn which identify the mean and standard deviation of the sampling distribution and the population. The Greek letters p. (mu) and c5 (sigma) represent the and of any population. The Greek letters 111101111, sub x, bar) and 0x (sigma, sub x, bar) represent the and the of all sample means in a sampling distribution. To avoid confusion, the sigma, sub x, bar term is usually referred to as the . The sampling distribution of means has a mean, and this mean will always equal the mean. Therefore, the two terms may be used interchangeably in inferential statistics so that any claims made about the population mean apply to the mean of the sampling distribution and vice versa. Even when a distinction is made for the purpose of emphasis, it is important to note that the numerical value of the two is always the same. The sampling distribution also has a SD that is referred to as the The standard error of the mean equals the of the population divided by the square root of the . The standard error of the mean is a measure of in the sampling distribution. This variability decreases as sample size increases. Therefore, more precise generalizations may be made from samples to populations when sample size is The central limit theorem states that the shape of the sampling distribution of the mean will approximate a normal curve if the sample size is sufciently large. A sample size between and is considered sufciently large. The fact that the sampling distribution