In: Statistics and Probability
(a) Explain the difference between a point estimate and an
interval estimate.
(b) The starting salaries of a random sample of three students who
graduated from North Carolina State University last year with
majors in the mathematical sciences are $45,000, $35,000, and
$55,000.
(i) Find a point estimate of the population mean of the starting
salaries of all math science graduates at that university last
year.
(ii) The margin of error for a 95% confidence interval is known to
be $24,800. Construct that interval.
(iii) Use this example to explain why a point estimate alone is usually insufficient for statistical inference.