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Most people can roll their tongues, but many can't. The ability to roll the tongue is genetically determined. Suppose we are interested in determining what proportion of students can roll their tongues. We test a simple random sample of 400 students and find that 317 can roll their tongues. The margin of error for a \(95 \%\) confidence interval for the true proportion of tongue rollers among students is closest to (a) 0.0008 . (c) 0.03 . (c) 0.05 . (b) 0.02 (d) 0.04

Short Answer

Expert verified
The margin of error is closest to \(0.04\).

Step by step solution

01

Determine the sample proportion (p̂)

The sample proportion \(\hat{p}\) is calculated by dividing the number of students who can roll their tongues by the total number of students in the sample. Thus, \(\hat{p} = \frac{317}{400} = 0.7925\).
02

Identify the critical value for a 95% confidence level

For a 95% confidence interval, the critical value \(z^*\) is approximately 1.96. This value is common for 95% confidence intervals in a standard normal distribution.
03

Calculate the standard error (SE)

The standard error of the proportion is calculated using the formula: \(SE = \sqrt{\frac{\hat{p}(1 - \hat{p})}{n}}\), where \(n\) is the sample size. Substituting the values, \(SE = \sqrt{\frac{0.7925 \times 0.2075}{400}} \approx 0.0203\).
04

Compute the margin of error (ME)

The margin of error is calculated by multiplying the standard error by the critical value: \(ME = z^* \times SE = 1.96 \times 0.0203 \approx 0.0398\).

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Key Concepts

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

Sample Proportion
In statistics, the sample proportion is a straightforward and crucial concept used to estimate population characteristics. It represents the fraction or percentage of the sample that possesses a particular attribute of interest.
For instance, in the exercise about tongue rolling among students, the sample proportion is calculated as the number of students who can roll their tongues divided by the total number of students sampled. Specifically, here's how you determine it:
  • Identify the total number of successes (in our case, 317 students who can roll their tongues).
  • Divide this number by the sample size (400 students in total).
This formula gives:\[ \hat{p} = \frac{317}{400} = 0.7925 \]This result means approximately 79.25% of the sample can roll their tongues. This provides a useful estimate when making inferences about the population.
Standard Error
The standard error measures the variability of the sample proportion. It essentially tells us how much we expect the sample proportion to vary from sample to sample due to random chance.
In the tongue-rolling example, the standard error is obtained using the formula:
  • Formula: \[ SE = \sqrt{\frac{\hat{p}(1 - \hat{p})}{n}} \]
  • Substitute values: \[ SE = \sqrt{\frac{0.7925 \times 0.2075}{400}} \approx 0.0203 \]
This calculation suggests that the sample proportion (\(0.7925\)) might vary by roughly \(0.0203\) in repeated sampling due to natural sampling variability. Understanding the standard error is crucial for creating confidence intervals and assessing the precision of the sample proportion.
Margin of Error
Margin of error constitutes the range of uncertainty around the sample proportion. It combines the standard error with the critical value to quantify the confidence in the estimate.
The formula to find the margin of error (ME) is:
  • Multiply the critical value by the standard error:
  • \[ ME = z^* \times SE \]
  • Using our numbers: \[ ME = 1.96 \times 0.0203 \approx 0.0398 \]
The calculation implies the sample proportion of students who can roll their tongues could be \(0.7925 \pm 0.0398\). This indicates our estimate of the population proportion is relatively precise and provides insights into how results might generalize to the entire student population.
Critical Value
The critical value is a key element in statistics, particularly for constructing confidence intervals. It reflects the confidence level we want in our results.
For a 95% confidence interval, which is common, the critical value from a standard normal distribution is typically \(z^* = 1.96\). This value stems from the properties of the normal distribution:
  • It indicates that there is a 95% probability the true population parameter lies within this range on either side of the sample estimate.
  • Provides a measure of how 'confident' we can be about the derived confidence interval.
By using \(1.96\) as the critical value, the margin of error becomes suitable for accurately estimating the population parameter with the desired confidence level.

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