A population is the collection of all of the units of interest to a researcher. A sample is a subset of this collection that the researcher selects that is typically smaller than the population.
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The sample mean will seldom be the same as the population mean due to sampling error. See the related link.
You are studying the sample because you want to find out information about the whole population. If the sample you have drawn from the population does not represent the population, you will find out about the sample but will not find out about the population.
Data is neither sample nor population. Data are collected for attributes. These can be for a sample or a population.
That the key characteristics of the population are reflected in the sample.
From a sample of a population, the properties of the population can be inferred.