Definition

The population parameter ‘p’ stands for the probability of occurrence of a certain characteristic in the population. It can also be expressed as the proportion of individuals or items in the population that posses the characteristic of interest.

Examples

If the characteristic is binary, e.g.: Defective/Non-defective or Success/Failure, then the proportion of defectives or successes in the population is denoted by p. Appropriate procedures can then be used to either estimate the value of the proportion from a sample or perform a test of inference on it.