Chapter 7

Sampling and Sampling

Distributions

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 Sampling Distributions

7.1 The Sampling Distribution of the Sample

Mean
7.2 The Sampling Distribution of the Sample
Proportion
7.3 Derivation of the Mean and the Variance of
the Sample Mean

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Learning Objective
7-1: Describe and
use the sampling
distribution of the
7.2 Sampling Distribution of
sample mean.
the Sample Mean
The sampling distribution of the sample mean
is the probability distribution of the
population of the sample means obtainable
from all possible samples of size n from a
population of size N

x is the sample mean

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Learning Objective
7-1: Describe and
use the sampling
distribution of the
Example 7.1: The Car
sample mean.
Mileage Case
• New model car
• Six preproduction cars
• Two tested for mileage
– 30 and 32 mpg
Average 31 mpg  sample mean or x 
Estimate of population mean μ
Remaining four cars tested
29, 31, 33, and 34 mpg
Population mean  μ is

μ
 29  30  31  32  33  34  31.5
6
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 Table 7.1 Example 7.1: A
Learning Objective
7-1: Describe and
use the sampling
distribution of the
sample mean. Probability Distribution
Describing the Population

Individual Car Mileage 29 30 31 32 33 34

Probability 1/6 1/6 1/6 1/6 1/6 1/6

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Learning Objective

Example 7.1: The Population

7-1: Describe and
use the sampling
distribution of the

of Sample Means (1 of 3)
sample mean.

a) The population of the 15 samples of n =2 car

mileages and corresponding sample means
Sample Car Mileages Sample Mean
1 29,30 29.5
2 29,31 30
3 29,32 30.5
4 29,33 31
5 29,34 31.5
6 30,31 30.5
7 30,32 31
8 30,33 31.5
9 30,34 32
10 31,32 31.5

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Learning Objective

Example 7.1: The Population

7-1: Describe and
use the sampling
distribution of the

of Sample Means (2 of 3)
sample mean.

Sample Car Mileages Sample Mean

11 31,33 32
12 31,34 32.5
13 32,33 32.5
14 32,34 33
15 33,34 33.5

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Learning Objective

Example 7.1: The Population

7-1: Describe and
use the sampling
distribution of the

of Sample Means (3 of 3)
sample mean.

b) A probability distribution describing the population

of 15 samples means: the sampling distribution of
the sample mean
Sample Mean Frequency Probability
29.5 1 1/15
30 1 1/15
30.5 2 2/15
31 2 2/15
31.5 3 3/15
32 2 2/15
32.5 2 2/15
33 1 1/15
33.5 1 1/15

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 Figure 7.1: Example 7.1a: A
Learning Objective
7-1: Describe and
use the sampling
distribution of the
sample mean. Graph of the Probability
Distribution

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 Figure 7.1 Example 7.1b : A
Learning Objective
7-1: Describe and
use the sampling
distribution of the
sample mean. Graph of the Probability
Distribution

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Learning Objective
7-1: Describe and
use the sampling
distribution of the
sample mean. Some Notes

• In many situations, the distribution of the

population of all possible sample means looks
roughly like a normal curve
• If the population is normally distributed, then
for any sample size n the population of all
possible sample means is also normally
distributed
The mean, μ , of the population of all possible sample
x
means is equal to μ
The standard deviation, σ , of the population of all
x
possible sample means is less than σ
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Learning Objective
7-1: Describe and
use the sampling
distribution of the
sample mean. General Conclusions (1 of 2)

• If the population of individual items is

normal, then the population of all sample
means is also normal
• Even if the population of individual items is
not normal, there are circumstances when
the population of all sample means is
normal (Central Limit Theorem)

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Learning Objective
7-1: Describe and
use the sampling
distribution of the
sample mean. General Conclusions (2 of 2)

• The mean of all possible sample means

equals the population mean
That is μ  μ
x
The standard deviation σ of all sample means is less
x
than the standard deviation of the population
That is, σ σ
x
– Each sample mean averages out the high
and the low measurements, and so are
closer to m than many of the individual
population measurements

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Learning Objective
7-1: Describe and
use the sampling
distribution of the
sample mean. The Empirical Rule

• The empirical rule holds for the sampling

distribution of the sample mean
• 68.26% of all possible sample means are
within (plus or minus) one standard deviation
σ of μ
x
• 95.44% of all possible observed values of x
are within (plus or minus) two σ of μ
x
• 99.73% of all possible observed values of x are
within (plus or minus) three σ of μ
x

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 Properties of the Sampling
Learning Objective
7-1: Describe and
use the sampling
distribution of the
sample mean. Distribution of the Sample Mean
(1 of 3)
• If the population being sampled is normal,
then so is the sampling distribution of the
sample mean, x
The mean σ of the sampling distribution of x is μ  μ
x x
– That is, the mean of all possible sample
means is the same as the population mean

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 Properties of the Sampling
Learning Objective
7-1: Describe and
use the sampling
distribution of the
sample mean. Distribution of the Sample Mean
(2 of 3)
The variance σ2x of the sampling distribution
2 σ2
of x is σ 
x n
That is, the variance of the sampling distributiion
of x is
– Directly proportional to the variance of the
population
– Inversely proportional to the sample size

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 Properties of the Sampling
Learning Objective
7-1: Describe and
use the sampling
distribution of the
sample mean. Distribution of the Sample Mean
(3 of 3)
The standarddeviationσ of the sampling
x
σ
distribution of x is σ 
x n
That is, the standarddeviationof sampling
distribution of x is
– Directly proportional to the standard
deviation of the population
– Inversely proportional to the square root of
the sample size

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Learning Objective
7-1: Describe and
use the sampling
distribution of the
sample mean. Notes

The formulas for σ 2 and σ holdif the

x x
sampledpopulationis infinite

The formulas hold approximately if the sampled

population is finite but if N is much larger (at least 20
times larger) than the n (N/n ≥ 20)
x is the point estimate of μ, and the larger the sample
size n, the more accurate the estimate
Because as n increases, σ decreases as 1 n
x
Additional ly, as n increases, the more
representative is the sample of the population
So, to reduce σ , take bigger samples!
x
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Learning Objective
7-1: Describe and
use the sampling
distribution of the
sample mean. Figure 7.3 Effect of Sample Size

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Learning Objective

Car Mileage Statistical

7-1: Describe and
use the sampling
distribution of the

Inference (1 of 4)
sample mean.

• Recall from Chapter 3 example, x  31.56

mpg for a sample of size n=50 and s = 0.8
• If the population mean µ is exactly 31, what is
the probability of observing a sample mean
that is greater than or equal to 31.56?

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Learning Objective

Car Mileage Statistical

7-1: Describe and
use the sampling
distribution of the

Inference (2 of 4)
sample mean.

• Calculate the probability of observing a

sample mean that is greater than or equal
to 31.6 mpg if µ = 31 mpg
– Want P(x > 31.5531 if µ = 31)
• Use s as the point estimate for s so that
σ 0.8
σ    0.113
x n 50

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Learning Objective

Car Mileage Statistical

7-1: Describe and
use the sampling
distribution of the

Inference (3 of 4)
sample mean.

 31.56  μ 
Then P x  31.56 if μ  31  P z  x
 σ 
 x 
 31.56  31 
 P z  
 0.113 
 P z  4.96 
• But z = 4.96 is off the standard normal table
• The largest z value in the table is 3.99, which
has a right hand tail area of 0.00003

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Learning Objective
7-1: Describe and
use the sampling
distribution of the
Car Mileage Statistical
sample mean.
Inference (4 of 4)
• z = 4.96 > 3.99, so P(z ≥ 4.84) < 0.00003
– If μ = 31 mpg, fewer than 3 in 100,000 of all
samples have a mean as large as observed
• Have either of the following explanations:
– If μ is actually 31 mpg, then very unlucky in
picking this sample
– Not unlucky, μ is not 31 mpg, but is really larger
• Difficult to believe such a small chance would
occur, so conclude that there is strong
evidence that μ does not equal 31 mpg
– Also, μ is, in fact, actually larger than 31 mpg

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Learning Objective
7-2: Explain and
use the Central
Limit Theorem.
The Central Limit Theorem
(1 of 2)
• Now consider a non-normal population
σ
Still have μ  μ and σ x 
x n
– Exactly correct if infinite population
– Approximately correct if population size N finite
but much larger than sample size n
• But if population is non-normal, what is the
shape of the sampling distribution of the
sample mean?
– The sampling distribution is approximately
normal if the sample is large enough, even if
the population is non-normal (Central Limit
Theorem)
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Learning Objective
7-2: Explain and
use the Central
Limit Theorem.
The Central Limit Theorem
(2 of 2)
• No matter the probability distribution that
describes the population, if the sample size n is
large enough, the population of all possible
sample means is approximately normal with
σ
μx  μ and standard deviation σ 
x n
• Further, the larger the sample size n, the closer
the sampling distribution of the sample mean is
to being normal
– In other words, the larger n, the better
the approximation

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Learning Objective

Figure 7.5 Effect of Sample

7-2: Explain and
use the Central
Limit Theorem.

Size

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Learning Objective
7-2: Explain and
use the Central
Limit Theorem.
How Large?

• How large is “large enough?”

• If the sample size is at least 30, then for
most sampled populations, the sampling
distribution of sample means is
approximately normal
• Here, if n is at least 30, it will be assumed
that the sampling distribution of x is
approximately normal
• If the population is normal, then the
sampling distribution of x is normal
regardless of the sample size
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Learning Objective
7-2: Explain and
use the Central
Limit Theorem.
Unbiased Estimates (1 of 2)

• A sample statistic is an unbiased point

estimate of a population parameter if the
mean of all possible values of the sample
statistic equals the population parameter
x is an unbiased estimate of  because μ  μ
x
– In general, the sample mean is always an
unbiased estimate of m
– The sample median is often an unbiased
estimate of m but not always

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Learning Objective
7-2: Explain and
use the Central
Limit Theorem.
Unbiased Estimates (2 of 2)

The sample variance s2 is an unbiased estimate of σ 2

That is why s2 has a divisor of n – 1 and not n

• However, s is not an unbiased estimate of σ

– Even so, the usual practice is to use s as
an estimate of σ

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Learning Objective
7-2: Explain and
use the Central
Limit Theorem.
Minimum Variance Estimates

• Want sample statistic to have small standard

deviation
– All values should be clustered around the
population parameter
 Statistic from any sample should be close to the
population parameter
• Given a choice between unbiased estimates,
choose one with smallest standard deviation
– The sample mean and the sample median are
both unbiased estimates of m
– The sampling distribution of sample means
generally has a smaller standard deviation than
that of sample medians
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Learning Objective
7-2: Explain and
use the Central
Limit Theorem.
Finite Populations

• If a finite population of size N is sampled randomly

and without replacement, must use the “finite
population correction” to calculate the correct
standard deviation of the sampling distribution of
the sample mean
If N  20  n
σ σ
Otherwise σ  but instead σ 
x n x n
Nn
The finite population correction is
N1
σ Nn
The standard error is σ 
x n N 1
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Learning Objective

7.2 Sampling Distribution of

7-3: Describe and
use the sampling
distribution of the

the Sample Proportion

sample proportion.

• The distribution of all possible sample

proportions is the sampling distribution of the
sample proportion

If a random sample of size n is taken from a population p
then the sampling distribution of the sample proportion is
Approximately normal, if n is large
Has a mean that equals ρ
 p(1p)
Has standard deviation p 
n

Where ñ is the population proportion and p is the sampled proportion

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Learning Objective
7-3: Describe and
use the sampling 7.3 Derivation of the Mean and the
Variance of the Sample Mean
distribution of the
sample proportion.

(Optional)

Given the following:

The mean of x , denoted μ , is μ is the mean of the
i xi
population from which x will be randomly selected
i
That is μ μ    μxn  μ
x1 x2
The variance of x , denoted σ 2xi, is σ2 the variance
i
of population from which x will be randomly selected
i
That is σ2x1  σ 2x2    σ 2xn  σ 2
Sample mean x is the average of the x ' S
i
We can prove that μ  μ
x
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