Problems in English text related to statistics

l10n
#1

Hi,

it looks like that the English text related to statistical functions
needs some cleanup, I've just filed a bug related to it
(https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=117626):

Number 1, number 2, ... are 1 to 254 numerical arguments which portray a
sample.
Number 1, number 2, ... are numerical arguments portraying a sample of
the distribution.
Number 1, number 2, ... are numerical arguments portraying the population.
Number 1, number 2, ... are numerical arguments which portray a population.
Number 1, number 2, ... are numerical arguments which portray a sample
of a population.
Number 1, number 2, ... are numerical arguments which portray a sample.
Number 1, number 2, ... are numerical arguments which represent a
population.
Number 1, number 2;...are numeric arguments representing a population
sample.
Number 1, number 2;...are numerical arguments representing a sample.

Are "portray" and "represent" synonyms?

best

Milos

#2

Yes, and No.

"Portray" implies the totality of the population.
"Represent" implies a subset of the population.
However, "portray" can imply a subset of a subset of a population.

On the other hand, literary aesthetics decrees that words should not be
repeated, hence words with similar meanings can be used as synonyms,
even when they aren't.

Going only by the strings you wrote, I'd suggest replacing everything
with "are numerical arguments representing the population (sample)",
with the word in parenthesis being included, or excluded, as appropriate.

jonathon