/*! This file is auto-generated */ .wp-block-button__link{color:#fff;background-color:#32373c;border-radius:9999px;box-shadow:none;text-decoration:none;padding:calc(.667em + 2px) calc(1.333em + 2px);font-size:1.125em}.wp-block-file__button{background:#32373c;color:#fff;text-decoration:none} Problem 7 a. A random sample of 10 houses ... [FREE SOLUTION] | 91Ó°ÊÓ

91Ó°ÊÓ

a. A random sample of 10 houses in a particular area, each of which is heated with natural gas, is selected and the amount of gas (therms) used during the month of January is determined for each house. The resulting observations are \(103,156,118,89,125,147,122,109,138,99\). Let \(\mu\) denote the average gas usage during January by all houses in this area. Compute a point estimate of \(\mu\). b. Suppose there are 10,000 houses in this area that use natural gas for heating. Let \(\tau\) denote the total amount of gas used by all of these houses during January. Estimate \(\tau\) using the data of part (a). What estimator did you use in computing your estimate? c. Use the data in part (a) to estimate \(p\), the proportion of all houses that used at least 100 therms. d. Give a point estimate of the population median usage (the middle value in the population of all houses) based on the sample of part (a). What estimator did you use?

Short Answer

Expert verified
a. 120.6 therms b. 1,206,000 therms, using sample mean c. 0.9 d. 120; sample median

Step by step solution

01

Calculate the Sample Mean

To compute a point estimate of the average gas usage, we calculate the sample mean. Add up all the usage values and divide by the number of observations. The calculation is as follows: \[ \text{Sample Mean} = \frac{103 + 156 + 118 + 89 + 125 + 147 + 122 + 109 + 138 + 99}{10} = \frac{1206}{10} = 120.6 \text{ therms} \]So, the point estimate of \( \mu \) is 120.6 therms.
02

Estimate Total Gas Usage

The total amount of gas used by all houses, \( \tau \), can be estimated by multiplying the average usage by the total number of houses. Using the point estimate from part (a), \[ \tau = 120.6 \times 10,000 = 1,206,000 \text{ therms} \]We used the estimator \( \hat{\tau} = n \times \bar{x} \), where \( n \) is the total number of houses and \( \bar{x} \) is the sample mean.
03

Estimate Proportion of Usage

To estimate the proportion \( p \) of houses using at least 100 therms, count the number of sample houses with usage \( \geq 100 \) and divide by the total number of observations. The calculation is as follows:Number of houses with usage \( \geq 100 \): 9 Proportion, \( p \): \[ p = \frac{9}{10} = 0.9 \]So, the estimated proportion is 0.9.
04

Estimate the Median Usage

The median is the middle value of an ordered dataset. First, arrange the usage values in increasing order: \[ 89, 99, 103, 109, 118, 122, 125, 138, 147, 156 \]Since there are 10 values, the median is the average of the 5th and 6th values: \[ \text{Median} = \frac{118 + 122}{2} = 120 \]We used the sample median as the estimator for the population median.

Unlock Step-by-Step Solutions & Ace Your Exams!

  • Full Textbook Solutions

    Get detailed explanations and key concepts

  • Unlimited Al creation

    Al flashcards, explanations, exams and more...

  • Ads-free access

    To over 500 millions flashcards

  • Money-back guarantee

    We refund you if you fail your exam.

Over 30 million students worldwide already upgrade their learning with 91Ó°ÊÓ!

Key Concepts

These are the key concepts you need to understand to accurately answer the question.

Sample Mean
The sample mean is a foundational concept in statistics used to estimate the average value of a dataset. To compute the sample mean, you sum up all the individual values and then divide by the number of observations.
In the context of the exercise, we calculated the sample mean for gas usage as follows:
  • Add all the gas usage values: \(103 + 156 + 118 + 89 + 125 + 147 + 122 + 109 + 138 + 99 = 1206\) therms.
  • Divide by the number of houses: \(\frac{1206}{10} = 120.6\) therms.
This gives us a sample mean of 120.6 therms, serving as a point estimate for \(\mu\), the average gas usage of all houses.The sample mean is crucial because it provides a simple yet effective way of summarizing data. It serves as an unbiased estimator of the population mean when samples are random and identically distributed.
Point Estimation
Point estimation is a technique in statistics where we use sample data to provide a single best estimate of a population parameter. In the exercise, the point estimates were derived for the average gas usage (the sample mean) and the total gas usage.Point estimates are extremely useful when we need quick assessments:
  • They provide a specific value rather than a range.
  • They are easy to compute and interpret.
The accuracy and reliability depend on sample size and selection method. In the exercise, the point estimate of the total gas usage \(\tau\) was computed by:\[\tau = 120.6 \times 10,000 = 1,206,000\text{ therms}\]Here, \(n = 10,000\), representing the total houses, and \(\bar{x}\), the sample mean. This technique allows statisticians and analysts to make informed decisions off of sample data quickly.
Population Median
The population median refers to the middle value in the entire dataset, dividing it into two equal halves. In our exercise, estimating the population median was based on the sample's median due to practical constraints on data collection.To find the median from the sample of 10 observations:
  • First, organize the data in ascending order: 89, 99, 103, 109, 118, 122, 125, 138, 147, 156.
  • Since there is an even number of data points, average the 5th and 6th values.
  • The calculation is: \(\frac{118 + 122}{2} = 120\).
Therefore, the sample median was used as an estimator of the population median. The median offers robustness to extreme values (outliers), providing more central tendency information than the mean in skewed distributions.
Proportion Estimation
Proportion estimation deals with estimating the fraction of a population that shares a particular attribute. Contrasting with the mean, which assesses average behavior, proportion estimation aims to understand prevalence.In the exercise, we determined the proportion of houses using at least 100 therms. Steps involved:
  • Count houses with usage \(\geq 100\): 9 out of 10.
  • Compute the proportion: \(\frac{9}{10} = 0.9\).
The calculated proportion of 0.9 indicates that 90% of the sampled houses used at least 100 therms.Proportion estimation is particularly useful in survey analysis and studies, helping with decisions in policy-making, marketing strategies, and more. It provides a way to measure outcomes when dealing with categorical data.

One App. One Place for Learning.

All the tools & learning materials you need for study success - in one app.

Get started for free

Most popular questions from this chapter

The accompanying data on flexural strength (MPa) for concrete beams of a certain type was introduced in Example 1.2. \(\begin{array}{rrrrrrr}5.9 & 7.2 & 7.3 & 6.3 & 8.1 & 6.8 & 7.0 \\ 7.6 & 6.8 & 6.5 & 7.0 & 6.3 & 7.9 & 9.0 \\ 8.2 & 8.7 & 7.8 & 9.7 & 7.4 & 7.7 & 9.7 \\\ 7.8 & 7.7 & 11.6 & 11.3 & 11.8 & 10.7 & \end{array}\) a. Calculate a point estimate of the mean value of strength for the conceptual population of all beams manufactured in this fashion, and state which estimator you used. b. Calculate a point estimate of the strength value that separates the weakest \(50 \%\) of all such beams from the strongest \(50 \%\), and state which estimator you used. c. Calculate and interpret a point estimate of the population standard deviation \(\sigma\). Which estimator did you use? [Hint: \(\left.\sum x_{i}^{2}=1860.94 .\right]\) d. Calculate a point estimate of the proportion of all such beams whose flexural strength exceeds \(10 \mathrm{MPa}\). [Hint: Think of an observation as a "success" if it exceeds 10.] e. Calculate a point estimate of the population coefficient of variation \(\sigma / \mu\), and state which estimator you used.

An investigator wishes to estimate the proportion of students at a certain university who have violated the honor code. Having obtained a random sample of \(n\) students, she realizes that asking each, "Have you violated the honor code?" will probably result in some untruthful responses. Consider the following scheme, called a randomized response technique. The investigator makes up a deck of 100 cards, of which 50 are of type I and 50 are of type II. Type I: Have you violated the honor code (yes or no)? Type II: Is the last digit of your telephone number a 0,1 , or 2 (yes or no)? Each student in the random sample is asked to mix the deck, draw a card, and answer the resulting question truthfully. Because of the irrelevant question on type II cards, a yes response no longer stigmatizes the respondent, so we assume that responses are truthful. Let \(p\) denote the proportion of honor- code violators (i.e., the probability of a randomly selected student being a violator), and let \(\lambda=P(\) yes response). Then \(\lambda\) and \(p\) are related by \(\lambda=.5 p+(.5)(.3)\). a. Let \(Y\) denote the number of yes responses, so \(Y \sim\) Bin \((n, \lambda)\). Thus \(Y / n\) is an unbiased estimator of \(\lambda\). Derive an estimator for \(p\) based on \(Y\). If \(n=80\) and \(y=20\), what is your estimate? [Hint: Solve \(\lambda=.5 p+.15\) for \(p\) and then substitute \(Y / n\) for \(\lambda\).] b. Use the fact that \(E(Y / n)=\lambda\) to show that your estimator \(\hat{p}\) is unbiased. c. If there were 70 type I and 30 type II cards, what would be your estimator for \(p\) ?

The shear strength of each of ten test spot welds is determined, yielding the following data (psi): \(\begin{array}{llllllllll}392 & 376 & 401 & 367 & 389 & 362 & 409 & 415 & 358 & 375\end{array}\) a. Assuming that shear strength is normally distributed, estimate the true average shear strength and standard deviation of shear strength using the method of maximum likelihood. b. Again assuming a nomal distribution, estimate the strength value below which \(95 \%\) of all welds will have their strengths. [Hint: What is the 95 th percentile in terms of \(\mu\) and \(\sigma\) ? Now use the invariance principle.]

Let \(X_{1}, X_{2}, \ldots, X_{n}\) represent a random sample from a Rayleigh distribution with pdf $$ f(x ; \theta)=\frac{x}{\theta} e^{-x^{2} /(2 \theta)} \quad x>0 $$ a. It can be shown that \(E\left(X^{2}\right)=2 \theta\). Use this fact to construct an unbiased estimator of \(\theta\) based on \(\sum X_{i}^{2}\) (and use rules of expected value to show that it is unbiased). b. Estimate \(\theta\) from the following \(n=10\) observations on vibratory stress of a turbine blade under specified conditions: \(\begin{array}{lllll}16.88 & 10.23 & 4.59 & 6.66 & 13.68 \\ 14.23 & 19.87 & 9.40 & 6.51 & 10.95\end{array}\)

Consider a random sample \(X_{1}, X_{2}, \ldots, X_{n}\) from the shifted exponential pdf $$ f(x ; \lambda, \theta)=\left\\{\begin{array}{cl} \lambda e^{-\lambda(x-\theta)} & x \geq \theta \\ 0 & \text { otherwise } \end{array}\right. $$ Taking \(\theta=0\) gives the pdf of the exponential distribution considered previously (with positive density to the right of zero). An example of the shifted exponential distribution appeared in Example \(4.5\), in which the variable of interest was time headway in traffic flow and \(\theta=.5\) was the minimum possible time headway. a. Obtain the maximum likelihood estimators of \(\theta\) and \(\lambda\). b. If \(n=10\) time headway observations are made, resulting in the values \(3.11, .64,2.55,2.20,5.44,3.42,10.39,8.93\), \(17.82\), and \(1.30\), calculate the estimates of \(\theta\) and \(\lambda\).

See all solutions

Recommended explanations on Math Textbooks

View all explanations

What do you think about this solution?

We value your feedback to improve our textbook solutions.

Study anywhere. Anytime. Across all devices.