What is the bootstrap and when do you use it?
mediumAnswer
- Bootstrap resamples the data with replacement to approximate the sampling distribution of an estimator.
- You get standard errors, confidence intervals, and bias estimates without strong parametric assumptions.
- Use it when analytical formulas are unavailable or unreliable (medians, ratios, complex estimators).
- Rule of thumb: 1,000-10,000 bootstrap samples.
Check yourself — multiple choice
- Bootstrap resamples without replacement
- Bootstrap approximates sampling distributions by resampling with replacement
- Bootstrap only works for normal data
- 10 bootstrap samples are usually enough
Sampling with replacement mimics repeated sampling from the population.
#bootstrap#estimation
Practise Statistics Fundamentals
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