In: Statistics and Probability
A recent survey of 40 executives who were recently laid off from their previous position revealed it took a mean of 28 weeks for them to find another position. The sample standard deviation was 6.2 weeks.
a. Construct a 95 percent confidence interval for the population mean.
b. Is it reasonable that the population mean is 31 weeks? Justify your answer.
Solution :
Given that,
= 28
s =6.2
n =40
Degrees of freedom = df = n - 1 =40 - 1 = 39
a ) At 95% confidence level the t is ,
= 1 - 95% = 1 - 0.95 = 0.05
/ 2= 0.05 / 2 = 0.025
t /2,df = t0.025,39 = 2.023 ( using student t table)
Margin of error = E = t/2,df * (s /n)
=2.023 * (6.2 / 40)
= 1.9832
The 95% confidence interval estimate of the population mean is,
- E < < + E
28- 1.9832< <28 + 1.9832
26.0168 < < 29.9832
(26.0168 , 29.9832 )
when take population mean is 31 week
- E < < + E
31- 1.9832< <31+ 1.9832
29.0168 < < 32.9832
(29.0168 ,32.9832)
yes it is reasonable