Bootstrap

Definition

A statistical resampling technique used to estimate the uncertainty of a population parameter by repeatedly drawing samples from the original data.

Etymology

From the idiom "pulling oneself up by one's bootstraps", meaning to achieve something with limited resources.

Example

Bootstrapping is often used to estimate the confidence interval of a population mean.

Related Terms

• Resampling
• Confidence interval
• Inference

Usage Notes

Bootstrap values are typically generated by repeating the sampling process many times.