Sample spaces

The sample space is the space that is covered by all the possible outcomes of a measurement. For example, if a feature column in a dataset is populated with the number of days last month that a responder watched television, then the sample space will include all the integers in the {0,1,2...31} set. If a manufacturing tool measures the temperature difference before and after processing a widget, then the sample space is a continuous range from {|0-maxT|}, where maxT is the highest temperature that the tool can measure. Data outside the sample space can be a sign of misreporting or a systematic misunderstanding of the problem statement, and should trigger further investigation.