In: Statistics and Probability
Multiple Choice Strategy: Some students have suggested that if you have to guess on a multiple-choice question, you should always choose C. Carl, the student, wants to investigate this theory. He is able to get a sample of past tests and quizzes from various teachers. In this sample there are 80 multiple-choice questions with four options (A, B, C, D). The distribution of correct answers from this sample is given in the frequency table below.
Correct | ||
Answer | Frequency | |
A | 15 | |
B | 19 | |
C | 30 | |
D | 16 | |
(a) If the correct answers for all multiple-choice problems are
uniformly distributed across the four options (A, B, C,
D), what is the theoretical proportion of those which should
have the answer C? Express your answer as an exact
decimal, not a percentage.
(b) Based on the sample that Carl collected, what is the point
estimate for the proportion of all multiple-choice questions with a
correct answer of C? Round your answer to 3
decimal places.
(c) Construct the 90% confidence interval for the proportion of
all multiple-choice questions with a correct
answer of C? Round your answers to 3 decimal
places.
< p <
(d) Can Carl be 90% confident that the correct answer of C
shows up more frequently than the theoretical value found in part
(a) would suggest?
No, because 0.25 is within the confidence interval limits.Yes, because 0.25 is below the lower limit of the confidence interval. No, because 0.25 is below the lower limit of the confidence interval.Yes, because 0.25 is within the confidence interval limits.
a) theoretical proportion of those which should have the answer C =1/4=0.25 (since there are 4 options)
b)
point estimate for the proportion of all multiple-choice questions with a correct answer of C
=30/80 =0.375
c)
for 90 % CI value of z= | 1.645 | |
margin of error E=z*std error = | 0.0890 | |
lower bound=p̂ -E = | 0.2860 | |
Upper bound=p̂ +E = | 0.4640 |
90% confidence interval =0.286 < p< 0.464
d)
Yes, because 0.25 is below the lower limit of the confidence interval.