Sampling Distribution

Sampling Distributions
• The sampling distribution of a statistic is the probability
distribution of all possible values the statistic may assume, when
computed from random samples of the same size, drawn from a
specified population.

• The sampling distribution of X is the probability distribution of

all possible values the random variable X may assume when a
sample of size n is taken from a specified population.
Sampling Distributions

Let’s look at the sales of the following six salespersons as a

population
Tom 60
Dick 80 Population Mean = 660 = 110
6
Harry 100
Amar 120
Akbar 140
Anthony 160
Let us take a random sample of size 2 without replacement
from this population of 6 salespersons
The Total number of samples each of size 2 without replacement
that are possible to be taken from a population size of 6 would be
= 6 = 15 samples
C 2
The Complete set of all possible samples are as follows:
( Possible in this case but not possible in general to enumerate all
possible combinations!!!!)
Sample Sample Mean Sample Sample Mean
1.T,D 60, 80 70 9. D,An 80, 160 120
2.T,H 60, 100 80 10.H,Am 100, 120 110
3.T,Am 60, 120 90 11.H,Ak 100, 140 120
4.T,Ak 60, 140 100 12.H,An 100, 160 130
5.T,An 60, 160 110 13. Am,Ak 120, 140 130
6.D,H 80, 100 90 14.Am,An 120, 160 140
7.D,Am 80, 120 100 15. Ak,An 140, 160 150
8.D,Ak 80, 140 110
 __ Frequency Relative __
X Frequency  X
70 1 0.0667 110 -40
80 1 0.0667 110 -30
90 2 0.1333 110 -20
100 2 0.1333 110 -10
110 3 0.2000 110 0
120 2 0.1333 110 10
130 2 0.1333 110 20
140 1 0.0667 110 30
150 1 0.667 110 40
Total N=15 1.000 110
 Sampling Distribution of the Sample Mean
4 0.2500

Relative Frequency
0.2000
3
Frequency

0.1500
2
0.1000
1
0.0500

0 0.0000
70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150
Sample Means of Samples
How are the Mean of the Sample Means and the
Population Mean related ?
While any individual sample mean need not be equal to the
Population Mean, Mean of all the Sample Means always equals
the Population Mean !!

Something Great and very useful in Estimation!!!

__

  

X __
 __

  X . P __X  x   110
X N  

   __ 
 Or E X   
X  
How are the Standard deviation of the Sample Means
related to the Population Variance ?

Standard Deviation of


x 
n

•  x is referred to as the standard error of the mean.

Concept of Standard Error
The standard error (SE) is the standard deviation of the sampling distribution
of a statistic.

The term Standard Error is used because it conveys a specific meaning.

In sampling distribution we take a series of sample and calculate the mean for
each sample. It is highly unlikely that all of these sample means would be the
same; we expect to see some variability in our observed means. This
variability in sample statistics results from Sampling Error due to chance ; that
is there are difference between each sample and the population, and among
the several samples, owing solely to the elements we happened to choose for
the samples.

The standard deviation of the distribution of the sample mean measures the
extent to which we expect the means from the different sample to vary
because of this chance error in the sampling process.
Sampling Distributions of sample mean

Process of Statistical Inference

Population A simple random sample

with mean of n elements is selected
=? from the population.

The value of x is used to The sample data

make inferences about provide a value for
the value of . the sample mean x .
 Sampling from a Normal Population
When sampling from a normal population with mean  and standard
deviation , the sample mean, X, has a normal sampling distribution:

2

X ~ N (, )
n
This means that, as the sample size
increases, the sampling distribution
Sampling Distribution of the Sample Mean
of the sample mean remains 0.4

centered on the population mean, 0.3

Sampling Distribution: n =16

Sampling Distribution: n =4
but becomes more compactly
f(X
0.2

distributed around that population 0.1

Sampling Distribution: n =2
Normal population

mean 0.0 )
Normal population


Central Limit Theorem
When the population from which we are selecting a random
sample does not have a normal distribution, the Central limit
theorem is helpful in identifying the shape of the sampling
distribution of x .

The Central limit theorem assures that the sampling of the

mean approaches normal as the sample size increases
regardless of the shape of the population.
The significance of Central limit theorem is that it permit us to
use sample statistic to make inferences about population
parameters without knowing anything about the shape of the
frequency distribution of that population other than what we
can get from the sample distribution .
The Central Limit Theorem
When sampling from a population with
mean μ and finite standard deviation σ the n=5
0.25
sampling distribution of the sample mean 0.20

P(X)
0.15

will tend to a normal distribution with 0.10

0.05

mean μ and standard deviation  as the 0.00

X

sample size becomes large n n = 20

(n >30). 0.2

P(X)
0.1

For “large enough” n: X ~ N (  , / n)

2
0.0
X

Large n
( Thumb Rule is, if the sample size is at 0.4

least 30 , the distribution of sample means

0.3

f(X)
0.2

is approximately normal.) 0.1

0.0

-
X
 The Central Limit Theorem Applies to Sampling
Distributions from Any Population
Normal Uniform Skewed General

Population

n=2

n = 30

 X  X  X  X
Sampling Distributions …….revisited
• Sampling Distribution of Sample Mean:

Sampling from Normal Populations: Sampling

distribution of sample mean will follow normal
distribution with mean (μ) and standard error (σ/√n).
Sampling from Non-normal Populations: Central Limit
Theorem assures that the sampling distribution of the
mean approaches normal as the sample size
increases.
Sampling Distributions …….revisited
• Central Limit Theorem:
 The relationship between the shape of the population distribution
and the shape of the sampling distribution of the sample statistic.
 It permits to use sample statistics to make inferences about
population parameters without knowing anything about the shape
of the frequency distribution of that population other than what can
get from the sample.

 Standard error decreases with increase of sample size. As the

standard error decreases, the precision with which the sample
mean can be used to estimate the population mean increases.

 Decision maker should always assess both the worth and the cost of
the additional precision they will obtain from a larger sample
before they commit resources to take it.