Chapter 8

Interval Estimation
 Population Mean:  Known
 Population Mean:  Unknown
 Determining the Sample Size
 Population Proportion

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1
 Margin of Error and the Interval Estimate

A
A point
point estimator
estimator cannot
cannot be
be expected
expected to
to provide
provide the
the
exact
exact value
value of
of the
the population
population parameter.
parameter.

An
An interval
interval estimate
estimate can
can be
be computed
computed by by adding
adding and
and
subtracting
subtracting aa margin
margin of
of error
error to
to the
the point
point estimate.
estimate.

Point Estimate +/ Margin of Error

The
The purpose
purpose ofof an
an interval
interval estimate
estimate is
is to
to provide
provide
information
information about
about how
how close
close the
the point
point estimate
estimate is
is to
to
the
the value
value of
of the
the parameter.
parameter.

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 Margin of Error and the Interval Estimate

The
The general
general form
form of
of an
an interval
interval estimate
estimate of
of aa
population
population mean
mean is
is
x  M a rg in o f E rro r

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 Interval Estimation of a Population Mean:
 Known
 In order to develop an interval estimate of a
population mean, the margin of error must be
computed using either:
• the population standard deviation  , or
• the sample standard deviation s
  is rarely known exactly, but often a good estimate
can be obtained based on historical data or other
information.
 We refer to such cases as the  known case.

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 Case of Lloyds Department Store

 Departmental Store
 Study on the spending of customers per shopping trip :
n=100
 Std dev= $20
 Historical data indicates the data follow a Normal
distribution

 Recent week , n=100

 Mean = $82
 Standard error= 20/sqrt n
 =20/sqrt 100
 =20/10=2

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 ,

95 % of the values of any normally distributed

random variable are within +/-1.96 std dev of the mean

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© 2008 Thomson South-Western. All Rights Reserved Slide
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 Confidence coefficient

95% Confidence interval

78.08 to 85.92

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 Interval Estimate - Population Known
Values of z/2

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 If the population follows a normal distribution, the
confidence interval provided is exact. In other words, if
expression were used repeatedly to generate 95%
confidence intervals, exactly 95% of the intervals generated
would contain the population mean.

 If the population does not follow a normal distribution,

the confidence interval provided by expression will be
approximate.

 In this case, the quality of the approximation depends on

both the distribution of the population and the sample
size.
 Problem
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 Interval Estimation of a Population Mean:
 Known
There is a 1   probability that the value of a
sample mean will provide a margin of error of z  /2  x
or less.

Sampling
distribution
of x

/2 1 -  of all /2

x values

x

z / 2  x z  /2  x

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 Interval Estimate of a Population Mean:
 Known

Sampling
distribution
of x
1 -  of all
/2 /2
x values
interval
does not x

include  interval
z  /2  x z  /2  x
includes 
[------------------------- x -------------------------]
[------------------------- x -------------------------]
[------------------------- x -------------------------]

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 Interval Estimate of a Population Mean:
 Known
 Interval Estimate of

x  z /2
n

where: x is the sample mean

1 - is the confidence coefficient
z/2 is the z value providing an area of
/2 in the upper tail of the standard
normal probability distribution
 is the population standard deviation
n is the sample size

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 Interval Estimate of a Population Mean:
 Known
 Adequate Sample Size

In
In most
most applications,
applications, aa sample
sample size
size of
of nn == 30
30 is
is
adequate.
adequate.

If
If the
the population
population distribution
distribution is
is highly
highly skewed
skewed oror
contains
contains outliers,
outliers, aa sample
sample size
size of
of 50
50 or
or more
more is
is
recommended.
recommended.

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 Interval Estimate of a Population Mean:
 Known
 Adequate Sample Size (continued)

If
If the
the population
population is
is not
not normally
normally distributed
distributed but
but is
is
roughly
roughly symmetric,
symmetric, aa sample
sample size
size as
as small
small as
as 15
15
will
will suffice.
suffice.

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 Interval Estimate of Population Mean:
 Known
 Example: Discount Sounds
Discount Sounds has 260 retail outlets
throughout the United States. The firm
is evaluating a potential location for a
new outlet, based in part, on the mean
annual income of the individuals in D
the marketing area of the new location.
A sample of size n = 36 was taken;
S
the sample mean income is $31,100. The
population is not believed to be highly skewed. The
population standard deviation is estimated to be $4,500,
and the confidence coefficient to be used in the interval
estimate is .95.
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 Interval Estimate of Population Mean:
 Known D
95% of the sample means that can be observed
S
are within + 1.96  x of the population mean .
The margin of error is:
  4, 500 
4,500
z /2  1.96    1, 470
n  36 
Thus, at 95% confidence, the margin of error
is $1,470.

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 Interval Estimate of Population Mean:
 Known D
S
Interval estimate of  is:

$31,100 + $1,470
or
$29,630 to $32,570

We are 95% confident that the interval contains the

population mean.

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 Interval Estimation of a Population Mean:
 Unknown
 If an estimate of the population standard deviation 
cannot be developed prior to sampling, we use the
sample standard deviation s to estimate  .
 This is the  unknown case.
 In this case, the interval estimate for  is based on the
t distribution.
 (We’ll assume for now that the population is
normally distributed.)

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 t Distribution

The
The tt distribution
distribution is
is aa family
family of
of similar
similar probability
probability
distributions.
distributions.

A
A specific
specific tt distribution
distribution depends
depends onon aa parameter
parameter
known
known asas the
the degrees
degrees of
of freedom
freedom..

Degrees
Degrees of
of freedom
freedom refer
refer to
to the
the number
number of
of
independent
independent pieces
pieces of
of information
information that
that go
go into
into the
the
computation
computation ofof ss..

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 t Distribution

AA tt distribution
distribution with
with more
more degrees
degrees of
of freedom
freedom has
has
less
less dispersion.
dispersion.

As
As the
the number
number of
of degrees
degrees of
of freedom
freedom increases,
increases, the
the
difference
difference between
between the
the tt distribution
distribution and
and the
the
standard
standard normal
normal probability
probability distribution
distribution becomes
becomes
smaller
smaller and
and smaller.
smaller.

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 t Distribution

t distribution
Standard (20 degrees
normal of freedom)
distribution

t distribution
(10 degrees
of freedom)

z, t
0

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 t Distribution

For
For more
more than
than 100
100 degrees
degrees ofof freedom,
freedom, the
the standard
standard
normal
normal zz value
value provides
provides aa good
good approximation
approximation to
to
the
the tt value.
value.

The
The standard
standard normal
normal zz values
values can
can be
be found
found in
in the
the
infinite
infinite degrees )) row
degrees ((
 row of
of the
the tt distribution
distribution table.
table.

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 t Distribution

Degrees Area in Upper Tail

of Freedom .20 .10 .05 .025 .01 .005
. . . . . . .
50 .849 1.299 1.676 2.009 2.403 2.678
60 .848 1.296 1.671 2.000 2.390 2.660
80 .846 1.292 1.664 1.990 2.374 2.639
100 .845 1.290 1.660 1.984 2.364 2.626
 .842 1.282 1.645 1.960 2.326 2.576

Standard normal
z values

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© 2008 Thomson South-Western. All Rights Reserved Slide
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 Interval Estimation of a Population Mean:
 Unknown
 Interval Estimate
s
x  t  /2
n

where: 1 - = the confidence coefficient

t/2 = the t value providing an area of /2
in the upper tail of a t distribution
with n - 1 degrees of freedom
s = the sample standard deviation

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 Credit card balances

 Consider a study designed to estimate the mean

credit card debt for the population of U.S.
households.
 A sample of n =70 households provided the credit
card balances shown in Table 8.3. For this situation,
no previous estimate of the population standard
deviation σ is available. Thus, the sample data must
be used to estimate both the population mean and the
population standard deviation. Using the data in
Table 8.3, we compute the sample mean $9312 and
the sample standard deviation s $4007. With 95%
confidence and n -1 =69 degrees of

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 With 95% confidence and n -1=
69 degrees of

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 Interval Estimate: Population Unknown
In most applications, a sample size of n >= 30 is
adequate when using the expression to
develop an interval estimate of a population mean.

If the population distribution is highly skewed or

contains outliers, a sample size of 50 or more is
recommended.

If the population is not normally distributed but is

roughly symmetric, a sample size as small as 15
will suffice.

If the population is believed to be at least

approximately normal, a sample size of less than 15
can be used.
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 Using a Small Sample

 an understanding of the distribution of the

population becomes a factor in deciding whether the
interval estimation procedure provides acceptable
results.

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 What can we say about the
distribution of the population
based on this histogram?

First, the sample data do not

support
the conclusion that the
distribution of the population
is normal, yet we do not see
any
evidence of skewness or
outliers.

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 95% confidence interval is

51.5 -3.2 =48.3 days to 51.5+ 3.2= 54.7 days.

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 Interval Estimation of a Population Mean:
 Unknown
 Example: Apartment Rents
A reporter for a student newspaper is writing an
article on the cost of off-campus
housing. A sample of 16
efficiency apartments within a
half-mile of campus resulted in
a sample mean of $650 per month and a sample
standard deviation of $55.

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 Interval Estimation of a Population Mean:
 Unknown
 Example: Apartment Rents
Let us provide a 95% confidence interval
estimate of the mean rent per
month for the population of
efficiency apartments within a
half-mile of campus. We will
assume this population to be normally distributed.

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 Interval Estimation of a Population Mean:
 Unknown
At 95% confidence,  = .05, and /2 = .025.
t.025 is based on n  1 = 16  1 = 15 degrees of freedom.
In the t distribution table we see that t.025 = 2.131.
Degrees Area in Upper Tail
of Freedom .20 .100 .050 .025 .010 .005
15 .866 1.341 1.753 2.131 2.602 2.947
16 .865 1.337 1.746 2.120 2.583 2.921
17 .863 1.333 1.740 2.110 2.567 2.898
18 .862 1.330 1.734 2.101 2.520 2.878
19 .861 1.328 1.729 2.093 2.539 2.861
. . . . . . .

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 Interval Estimation of a Population Mean:
 Unknown
 Interval Estimate
s
x  t.025 Margin
n of Error

55
650  2.131  650  29.30
16
We are 95% confident that the mean rent per month
for the population of efficiency apartments within a
half-mile of campus is between $620.70 and $679.30.

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 Summary of Interval Estimation Procedures
for a Population Mean

Can the
Yes population standard No
deviation  be assumed
known ?

Use the sample

standard deviation
s to estimate 
 Known
Case

Use   Unknown Use s

x  z / 2 Case x  t / 2
n n

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 Sample Size for an Interval Estimate
of a Population Mean

Let
Let EE == the
the desired
desired margin
margin of
of error.
error.

EE is
is the
the amount
amount added
added to
to and
and subtracted
subtracted from
from the
the
point
point estimate
estimate to
to obtain
obtain an
an interval
interval estimate.
estimate.

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 Sample Size for an Interval Estimate
of a Population Mean
 Margin of Error

E  z /2
n
 Necessary Sample Size

( z / 2 ) 2  2
n
E2

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 Interval Estimate: Sample Size
( z / 2 ) 2  2
n
E2

1. Use the estimate of the population standard

deviation computed in a previous study.

2. Use a pilot study to select a preliminary study and

use the sample standard deviation from the study.

3. Use judgment or a “best guess” for the value of  .

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 Sample Size for an Interval Estimate
of a Population Mean D
S
Recall that Discount Sounds is evaluating a
potential location for a new retail outlet, based in part,
on the mean annual income of the individuals in
the marketing area of the new location.
Suppose that Discount Sounds’ management team
wants an estimate of the population mean such that
there is a .95 probability that the sampling error is $500
or less.
How large a sample size is needed to meet the
required precision?

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 Sample Size for an Interval Estimate
of a Population Mean D
S

z /2  500
n
At 95% confidence, z.025 = 1.96. Recall that = 4,500.
(1.96) 2 (4, 500) 2
n 2
 311.17  312
(500)

A sample of size 312 is needed to reach a desired

precision of + $500 at 95% confidence.

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 Interval Estimation
of a Population Proportion

The
The general
general form
form of
of an
an interval
interval estimate
estimate of
of aa
population
population proportion
proportion is
is
p  M a rg in o f E rro r

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 Interval Estimation
of a Population Proportion

The
The sampling
sampling distribution of p plays
distribution of plays aa key
key role
role in
in
computing
computing the
the margin
margin ofof error
error for
for this
this interval
interval
estimate.
estimate.

The
The sampling
sampling distribution of p can
distribution of can be
be approximated
approximated
by
by aa normal
normal distribution
distribution whenever
whenever np
np >> 55 and
and
nn(1
(1 –– pp)) >> 5.
5.

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 Interval Estimation
of a Population Proportion
 Normal Approximation of Sampling Distribution of p

Sampling p(1  p )
distribution p 
of p n

/2 1 -  of all /2

p values
p
p
z / 2  p z / 2  p

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 Interval Estimation
of a Population Proportion
 Interval Estimate

p (1  p )
p  z / 2
n

where: 1 - is the confidence coefficient

z/2 is the z value providing an area of
/2 in the upper tail of the standard
normal probability distribution
p is the sample proportion

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 Interval Estimation
of a Population Proportion
 Example: Political Science, Inc.
Political Science, Inc. (PSI)
specializes in voter polls and
surveys designed to keep
political office seekers informed
of their position in a race.
Using telephone surveys, PSI interviewers ask
registered voters who they would vote for if the
election were held that day.

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 Interval Estimation
of a Population Proportion
 Example: Political Science, Inc.
In a current election campaign,
PSI has just found that 220
registered voters, out of 500
contacted, favor a particular
candidate.
PSI wants to develop a 95% confidence interval
estimate for the proportion of the population of
registered voters that favor the candidate.

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 Interval Estimation
of a Population Proportion

p (1  p )
p  z / 2
n
where: n = 500, p = 220/500 = .44, z/2 = 1.96

.44(1  .44)
.44  1.96 = .44 + .0435
500

PSI is 95% confident that the proportion of all voters

that favor the candidate is between .3965 and .4835.

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 Sample Size for an Interval Estimate
of a Population Proportion
 Margin of Error

p (1  p )
E  z / 2
n

Solving for the necessary sample size, we get

( z / 2 ) 2 p (1  p )
n
E2
However, pwill not be known until after we have
selected the sample. We will use the planning value
p* for p.

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 Sample Size for an Interval Estimate
of a Population Proportion
 Necessary Sample Size

( z / 2 ) 2 p * (1  p * )
n
E2

The planning value p* can be chosen by:

1. Using the sample proportion from a previous sample of the
same or similar units, or
2. Selecting a preliminary sample and using the sample
proportion from this sample.
3. Use judgment or a “best guess” for the value of p*.
4. If none of the preceding alternatives apply, use a planning
value of p*= .50.
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 Sample Size for an Interval Estimate
of a Population Proportion

Suppose that PSI would like a .99 probability

that the sample proportion is within + .03 of the
population proportion.
How large a sample size is needed to meet the
required precision? (A previous sample of similar
units yielded .44 for the sample proportion.)

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 Sample Size for an Interval Estimate
of a Population Proportion

p(1  p )
z /2
/2
 .03
n

= .44.
At 99% confidence, z.005 = 2.576. Recall that p
( z / 2 ) 2 p (1  p ) (2.576) 2 (.44)(.56)
n   1817
E2 (.03) 2

A sample of size 1817 is needed to reach a desired

precision of + .03 at 99% confidence.

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 Sample Size for an Interval Estimate
of a Population Proportion

Note: We used .44 as the best estimate of p in the

preceding expression. If no information is available
about p, then .5 is often assumed because it provides
the highest possible sample size. If we had used
p = .5, the recommended n would have been 1843.

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 End of Chapter 8

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