In: Statistics and Probability
Assuming normality, construct the requested confidence interval.
A sociologist is interested in the age at which a mother has her first child. A random sample of 20 recent births yielded an average maternal age to be 30 years with a standard deviation of 6.2 years.
Construct a 99% confidence interval for the mean age at which a mother has her first child.
Question 17 options:
| 
 (27.10, 32.90)  | 
|
| 
 (26.43, 33.57)  | 
|
| 
 (27.28, 32.72)  | 
|
| 
 (27.60, 32.40)  | 
|
| 
 (26.03, 33.97)  | 
c )solution
Given that,
= 30
s =6.2
n = 20
Degrees of freedom = df = n - 1 = 20- 1 = 19
At 99% confidence level the t is ,
= 1 - 99% = 1 - 0.99 = 0.01
/ 2 = 0.01 / 2 = 0.005
t
/2  df = t0.005,19 = 2.861 ( using student t table)
Margin of error = E = t
/2,df
* (s /n)
= 2.861* ( 6.2/ 
20) = 3.97
The 99% confidence interval is,
- E < 
 < 
 + E
30 - 3.97< 
 <30 + 3.97
(26.03, 33.97)