Eight students in a science class were surveyed on whether they would benefit from tutoring the survey had the following characteristics margin of error plus minus 3 confidence level 95% lower margin 10% upper margin 16% what is the average number of students in the class who said they would benefit from tutoring

1 answer

To determine the average number of students in the class who said they would benefit from tutoring, we can use the provided margin of error and the survey percentages.

Given:

  • Lower margin: 10%
  • Upper margin: 16%
  • Margin of error: ±3%
  • Total students surveyed: 8
  1. Calculate the Estimated Proportion: The estimated proportion who would benefit from tutoring can be taken as the midpoint between the lower and upper margins.

    \[ \text{Estimated Proportion} = \frac{\text{Lower Margin} + \text{Upper Margin}}{2} = \frac{10% + 16%}{2} = \frac{26%}{2} = 13% \]

  2. Calculate Number of Students: Now, we will calculate the number of students out of 8 who would benefit from tutoring by multiplying the estimated proportion by the total number of students:

    \[ \text{Number of Students} = \text{Estimated Proportion} \times \text{Total Students} = 0.13 \times 8 = 1.04 \]

Since we can't have a fraction of a student, we round this to the nearest whole number. Thus:

Approximately 1 student said they would benefit from tutoring, based on the midpoint estimate of the survey results.

However, let’s also check using the individual margins:

  • For the lower margin (10% of 8 students): \[ \text{Lower estimate} = 0.10 \times 8 = 0.8 \quad \text{(approximately 1 student)} \]

  • For the upper margin (16% of 8 students): \[ \text{Upper estimate} = 0.16 \times 8 = 1.28 \quad \text{(approximately 1 student)} \]

Both calculations confirm that the average number of students who said they would benefit from tutoring is approximately 1 student.