Statistica Ch7-4 and 7-5 (p.349-p.

371)

7-4 Estimating a Population Mean: 𝛔 Not known

Finding a confidence interval estimate of a population mean when the population standard
deviation is not known.
Requirements
1. The sample is a simple random sample.
2. Either the sample is from a normally distributed population or n. 30

 The sample mean is the best point estimate of the population mean μ
Student t Distribution

Degrees of Freedom for a collection of sample data is the number of sample values that can
vary after certain restrictions have been imposed on all data values.
Example: 10 students have quiz, μ=80
We can freely assign values to the first 9 scores, but the 10th score is then determined. The
sum of the 10 scores must be 800, so the 10th score must equal 800 minus the sum of the first
9 scores. Because those first 9 scores can be freely selected to be any values, we say that
there are 9 degrees of freedom available. For the applications of this section, the number of
degrees of freedom is simply the sample size minus 1.
Degress of Freedom = n − 1

Example:
Finding a Critical Value, A sample of size n 5 23 is a simple random sample selected from a
normally distributed population. Find the critical value corresponding to a 95% confidence
level.
Answer : n = 23 degerees of freedom n−1 = 22 to α = 0.05 tα/2 = 2.074
Using table, A-3, we locate the 22nd row by referring to the column at the extreme left. A 95%
confidence level corresponds to α = 0.05, so we find the column listing values for an area of
 0.05 in two tails. The value corresponding to the row for 22 degrees of freedom and
the column for an area of 0.05 in two tails is 2.074, so t𝛼/2 = 2.074
Now that we know how to find critical values denoted by t𝛼/2 we can describe the margin of
error E and the confidence interval.

Procedure for Constructing a Confidence Interval for (With 𝛔 Unknown)

Example:
Constructing a Confidence Interval Listed in the accompanying stemplot are the ages
of applicants who were unsuccessful in winning promotion (based on data from
“Debating the Use of Statistical Evidence in Allegations of Age Discrimination,” by
Barry and Boland, American Statistician, Vol. 58, No. 2). There is an important larger
issue of whether these applicants suffered age discrimination, but for now we will focus
on the simple issue of using those values as a sample for the purpose of estimating the
mean of a larger population. Assume that the sample is a simple random sample and use
the sample data with a 95% confidence level to find both of the following:
a. The margin of error E
b. The confidence interval for μ
Answer:

Choosing the
Appropriate
Distribution

Finding Point Estimate and E

from a Confidence Interval
 ‘

7-5 Estimating a Population Variance Introduce the chi-square distribution,

which is used for finding a confidence
interval estimate of σ or σ2
Purpose :
1. Finding a confidence interval estimate of a population standard deviation or
variance
2. determining the sample size required to estimate a population standard
deviation or variance
Requirements
 The sample is a simple random sample.
 The population must have normally distributed values (even if the sample is large).

Chi-Square Distribution
The sample statistic Χ 2 = (n – 1)s2/σ2 has sampling distribution

degrees of freedom 5 n 2 1

Estimator of 𝛔2
Determining Sample Size

The procedures for finding the sample size necessary to estimate σ are much more complex than the procedures given earlier for means and proportions. Instead

of using very complicated procedures, we will use Table 7-2. STATDISK also provides sample sizes. With STATDISK, select Analysis, Sample Size

Determination, and then Estimate St Dev. Minitab, Excel, and the TI-83 84 Plus calculator do not provide such sample sizes
Homework Statistica