representative

A representative is a person who acts on behalf of others or a thing that stands for a larger group. As an adjective, representative also means typical of a class or group.

In politics, a representative is an elected official who makes decisions for constituents. Many countries use a representative democracy, in which citizens vote for individuals to legislate and govern on their behalf. In the United States, members of the House of Representatives are typically called Representatives.

In business and law, a representative can be a sales representative who promotes and sells products, often under contract with a company. A legal representative, such as an attorney or agent, acts on behalf of a person or organization and may have authority granted by a power of attorney or similar instrument.

In statistics and research, a representative sample is a subset of a population that accurately reflects the characteristics of the whole. Poor sampling can yield non-representative results and bias conclusions. Techniques such as random sampling or stratified sampling help improve representativeness and the reliability of inferences drawn from the data.

In common usage, representative describes something that is typical or emblematic of a larger group, or serves as a stand-in or exemplar for that group. The term often appears in discussions of governance, representation, and sampling.