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Chapter 7
Confidence Intervals
and Sample Size
© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2000
7-4 Objectives
Find the confidence interval for the
mean when is known.
Determine the minimum sample size for
finding a confidence interval for the mean.
Find the confidence interval for the mean
when is unknown.
X z X z
n
2
n 2
one gets
© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2000
7-20 Confidence Intervals - Example
5 5
104 (2.58)
. ( ) 104 (2.58)( )
30 30
104 2.4 104 2.4
. 106.4.
1016
Hence, one can say, with 99%
confidence, that the average pulse
rate is between 1016 . and 106.4
beats per minute, based on 30 users.
z
2
n 2
E
where E is the maximum error
of estimate.
If necessary , round the answer up
to obtain a whole number .
z
2
in n gives
2
E
2
(2.58)(3)
n = 59.9 60.
1
© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2000
7-24 Characteristics of the t Distribution
The t distribution shares some
characteristics of the normal distribution
and differs from it in others. The t
distribution is similar to the standard
normal distribution in the following ways:
It is bell-shaped.
It is symmetrical about the mean.
0.08 0.08
0.32–(2.262) 0.32 (2.262)
10 10
0.26 0.38