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91Ó°ÊÓ

Annual returns on stocks vary a lot. In recent years, the mean return over three years was \(11.2 \%\) and the standard deviation of returns was \(11.1 \%\). The law of large numbers says that (a) you can get an average return higher than the mean \(11.2 \%\) by investing in a large number of the stocks. (b) as you invest in more and more stocks chosen at random, your average return on these stocks gets ever closer to \(11.2 \%\) (c) if you invest in a large number of stocks chosen at random, your average return will have approximately a Normal distribution.

Short Answer

Expert verified
(b) is correct; the average return gets closer to 11.2% with more stocks.

Step by step solution

01

Understanding the Law of Large Numbers

The Law of Large Numbers is a statistical theorem that states as the size of a sample increases, the sample mean will get closer to the population mean. It does not imply that the results will exceed the average, but rather stabilize around it.
02

Evaluate Option (a)

Option (a) states that by investing in a large number of stocks, you can achieve an average return higher than the mean. This contradicts the Law of Large Numbers, which does not guarantee a higher return but a stabilization around the average.
03

Evaluate Option (b)

Option (b) suggests that as more stocks are chosen at random, the average return gets closer to the mean of 11.2%. This is consistent with the Law of Large Numbers, which states that the sample mean approaches the population mean as the sample size increases.
04

Evaluate Option (c)

Option (c) claims that the average return from investing in a large number of stocks will have approximately a Normal distribution. While the Central Limit Theorem can imply that the sampling distribution will normalize, the Law of Large Numbers itself does not specifically state that distribution will be Normal.

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Key Concepts

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

Central Limit Theorem
The Central Limit Theorem (CLT) is an essential idea in statistics that helps us understand how sample means behave. According to the CLT, when you take a large enough sample from a population, the distribution of the sample means will tend to form a Normal distribution, even if the original data is not normally distributed. This is quite fascinating because it allows us to make predictions about sample means using the properties of the Normal distribution, such as calculating probabilities and confident interval estimates.

In simpler terms, if you repeatedly take random samples of a certain size from any population, the average of those samples would resemble a bell-shaped curve. This becomes incredibly useful in statistics because the Normal distribution has well-known properties that we can utilize to make educated decisions and predictions. The sample size is crucial here; generally, a larger sample size makes the distribution of the sample means more closely resemble a Normal distribution.

It's important to clarify that while the Law of Large Numbers and the CLT are closely related, they address different aspects of statistical behavior. The Law of Large Numbers focuses on the stabilization of the sample mean towards the population mean, while the Central Limit Theorem emphasizes the distribution of those means becoming normal with increased sample size.
mean and standard deviation
The mean and standard deviation are fundamental concepts in statistics that describe different characteristics of a data set. The mean, often referred to as the average, is calculated by adding all the values in the data set and dividing by the number of values. It provides a central value around which the data points tend to cluster.

Standard deviation, on the other hand, measures the amount of variation or dispersion in a set of values. It tells us how spread out the values are from the mean. A small standard deviation indicates that the values tend to be close to the mean, while a large standard deviation suggests considerable variation among the data points.
  • The mean helps to identify the central tendency of the data.
  • Standard deviation gives insight into the reliability and predictability of the data.
These concepts are particularly important when addressing stock returns, as they help us understand both the expected average return (mean) and the variability of these returns over time (standard deviation). Together, they provide a more comprehensive picture of what to expect from data.
statistical theorem
A statistical theorem is a proven mathematical statement used to analyze data and make predictions. Theorems provide a framework for understanding the relationships between different statistical concepts and applying statistical principles in real-world scenarios.

A good example of a statistical theorem is the Law of Large Numbers. It asserts that as the size of a sample taken from a population increases, the sample mean is likely to get progressively closer to the population mean. This theorem is critical in making meaningful conclusions from data samples because it ensures that larger samples provide more reliable estimates of population parameters.

Statistical theorems, such as the Law of Large Numbers and the Central Limit Theorem, form the backbone of statistical inference. They help us understand how to generalize findings from a sample to a larger population and make informed decisions based on data analysis. Without these theorems, it would be difficult to draw accurate conclusions about the world based on sample data.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

A post-election poll of Canadian adults who were registered voters found that \(77 \%\) said they voted in the Dctober 2015 elections. Election records show that \(68.3 \%\) of registered voters voted in the election. The boldface number is a (a) sampling distribution. (b) statistic. (c) parameter.

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Guns in School. Researchers surveyed 15,624 Amercian high school students (grades 9-12) and found that \(27.2 \%\) of those surveyed were in grade 9 . The percent of all American high school students who are in grade 9 is \(27.5 \%\). The percent of those surveyed who were in grade 9 and had carried a gun to school was \(4.5 \%\). Is each of the boldface numbers a parameter or a staristic?

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