The Sampling Distribution

of theChapter
Sample 7
Mean
 7.1 : Sampling Error; The
Need for Sampling Distribution
Example: Suppose that the population of interest
consists of the five starting players (A, B, C, D, and E). on
a men’s basketball team. Further suppose that the
variable of interest is height (inches) that shown the table.

1. Obtain the sampling distribution of the sample mean

for samples of size 2.
• Make some observations about sampling error when
the mean height of a random sample of two players is
used to estimate the population mean height.
c. Find the probability that, for a random sample of size 2,
the sampling error made in estimating the population
mean by the sample mean will be 1 inch or less; that is,
determine the probability that will be within 1 inch of μ.
Solution (a)
• The population is so small that we can list the
possible samples of size 2. The first column of the
Table I gives the 10 possible samples, the second
column the corresponding heights (values of the
variable “height”), and the third column the sample
means.

• Compute the population mean

μ = (76+78+79+81+86) /5
= 80

Table I
Solution (a)-continued
Figure I show a dotplot for the distribution of the sample
means (the sampling distribution of the sample mean for
samples of size 2).

Figure I
Solution (b)
From Table I or Fig. I, we see that the mean height of the
two players selected isn’t likely to equal the population
mean of 80 inches. In fact, only 1 of the 10 samples has a
mean of 80 inches, the eighth sample in Table I. The
chances are, therefore, only 1/10 , or 10%, that will equal
μ; some sampling error is likely.

Figure I
Solution (c)
Figure I shows that 3 of the 10 samples have means
within 1 inch of the population mean of 80 inches. So the
probability is 3/10 , or 0.3, that the sampling error made in
estimating μ by will be 1 inch or less.

Figure I
 Figure II
Figure illustrates that
the possible sample
means cluster more
closely around the
population mean as the
sample size increases.
This result suggests
that sampling error
tends to be smaller for
large samples than for
small samples.
For example, Fig. II reveals that, for samples of size 1, two
of five (40%) of the possible sample means lie within 1
inch of μ. Likewise, for samples of sizes 2, 3, 4, and 5,
respectively, three of ten (30%), five of ten (50%), four of
five (80%), and one of one (100%) of the possible sample
means lie within 1 inch of μ. The first four columns of
below table summarize these results. The last two columns
of that table provide other sampling-error results, easily
obtained from Fig. II.
7.2: Mean & Standard Deviation
of the Sample Mean
 7.2: Mean & Standard Deviation
of the Sample Mean
Example: Refer to Heights of Player
1. Determine the population standard deviation
– Obtain the standard deviation of variable for sample size
of 2
Solution (a): Solution (b):
7.2: Mean & Standard Deviation of
the Sample Mean ( )
Example The mean rent paid by all tenants in a large
city is RM1550 with a standard deviation of RM225.
Using a sample size of 100, calculate the mean and
standard deviation of .

Solution:
Example: The mean living space for single-family detached
homes is 1742 square feet. The standard deviation is 568
square feet.
1. For sample of 25 single-family detached homes,
determine the mean and standard deviation of the
variable
– Repeat part (a) for sample of size 500

Solution (a): Solution (b):

7.3 : The Sampling Distribution of
the Sample Mean

• The Central Limit Theorem (CLT)

For a relatively large sample size (n>=30),
the variable is approximately normally
distributed, regardless of the distribution of
the variable under consideration. The
approximation becomes better with increasing
sample size
7.3 : The Sampling Distribution of
the Sample Mean
Sampling distribution for:
(a) normal (b) reverse J-shaped (c) uniform variables
7.3 : The Sampling Distribution of
the Sample Mean
• When conducting a survey, we usually select one
sample and compute the value of based on that
sample.

• Now, we are more interested in finding the

probability that the value of computed from one
sample falls within a given interval.
Example: Assume that the weights of all packages
of a certain brand of cookies are normally distributed
with a mean of 32 ounces and a standard deviation of
0.3 ounce. Find the probability that the mean weight,
of a random sample of 20 packages of this brand of
cookies will be between 31.8 and 31.9 ounces.
Solution:
Although the sample size is small (n < 30), the
shape of the sampling distribution of is normal
because the population is normally distributed.

We are to compute the probability that the

value of is between 31.8 and 31.9 – that is
 Solution(continued)
• This probability is given by the area the normal
distribution curve for between the points = 31.8 and =
31.9.
• The first step in finding this area is to convert the two
values to their respective z values.
Solution:
The probability that is between 31.8 and 31.9
is given by the area under the standard
normal curve between z =-2.98 and z = -1.49,
as shown in the figure below.
Solution (continued):

Therefore, the probability that the mean weight of a

sample of 20 packages will be between 31.8 and
31.9 ounces is 0.0667.