8.2 A Single Population Mean using the Student t Distribution

Suppose you do a study of acupuncture to determine how effective it is in relieving pain. You measure sensory rates for 15 subjects with the results given. Use the sample data to construct a 95% confidence interval for the mean sensory rate for the population (assumed normal) from which you took the data.
The solution is shown step-by-step and by using the TI-83, 83+, or 84+ calculators.

The Human Toxome Project (HTP) is working to understand the scope of industrial pollution in the human body. Industrial chemicals may enter the body through pollution or as ingredients in consumer products. The scientists at HTP tested cord blood samples for 20 newborn infants in the United States. The cord blood of the "In utero/newborn" group was tested for 430 industrial compounds, pollutants,…

Use the following information to answer the next five exercises. A hospital is trying to cut down on emergency room wait times. It is interested in the amount of time patients must wait before being called back to be examined. An investigation committee randomly surveyed 70 patients. The sample mean was 1.5 hours with a sample standard deviation of 0.5 hours.

Define the random variables X and $\bar{X}$ in…

Use the following information to answer the next six exercises: One hundred eight Americans were surveyed to determine the number of hours they spend watching television each month. It was revealed that they watched an average of 151 hours each month with a standard deviation of 32 hours. Assume that the underlying population distribution is normal.

Identify the following:

1. $\bar{x}$ =_______
2. $s_{x}$ =_______
3. n…

Use the following information to answer the next six exercises: One hundred eight Americans were surveyed to determine the number of hours they spend watching television each month. It was revealed that they watched an average of 151 hours each month with a standard deviation of 32 hours. Assume that the underlying population distribution is normal.

Define the random variable $\bar{X}$ in words.

Calculate the following:

1. $\bar{x}$ =______
2. $s_{x}$ =______
3. n =______

What is $\bar{x}$ estimating?

As a result of your answer to the exercise, state the exact distribution to use when calculating the confidence interval.

Construct a 95% confidence interval for the true mean number of colors on national flags.

How much area is in each tail?

Construct a 95% confidence interval for the true mean number of colors on national flags.

The 95% confidence interval is_____.

Construct a 95% confidence interval for the true mean number of colors on national flags.

In one complete sentence, explain what the interval means.

Construct a 95% confidence interval for the true mean number of colors on national flags.

Using the same $\bar{x}$, $s_{x}$, and level of confidence, suppose that n were 69 instead of 39. Would the error bound become larger or smaller? How do you know?

A pharmaceutical company makes tranquilizers. It is assumed that the distribution for the length of time they last is approximately normal. Researchers in a hospital used the drug on a random sample of nine patients. The effective period of the tranquilizer for each patient (in hours) was as follows: 2.7; 2.8; 3.0; 2.3; 2.3; 2.2; 2.8; 2.1; and 2.4.

1. 1. $\bar{x}$ = __________
   2. $s_{x}$ = __________
   3. n = __________
   4. n…

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) collects information about campaign contributions and disbursements for candidates and political committees each election cycle. A political action committee (PAC) is a committee formed to raise money for candidates and campaigns. A Leadership PAC is a PAC formed by a federal politician (senator or representative) to raise money to help other candidates’ campa…

Unoccupied seats on flights cause airlines to lose revenue. Suppose a large airline wants to estimate its mean number of unoccupied seats per flight over the past year. To accomplish this, the records of 225 flights are randomly selected and the number of unoccupied seats is noted for each of the sampled flights. The sample mean is 11.6 seats and the sample standard deviation is 4.1 seats.

1. 1. $\bar{x}$ = _…

Use the following information to answer the next two exercises: A quality control specialist for a restaurant chain takes a random sample of size 12 to check the amount of soda served in the 16 oz. serving size. The sample mean is 13.30 with a sample standard deviation of 1.55. Assume the underlying population is normally distributed.

Find the 95% Confidence Interval for the true population mean f…