In a random sample of 112 State College students, 41 students reported being current smokers.

a) Calculate the 95% confidence interval for the proportion of State College students who smoke.

User Icon for MathGuru MathGuru answered
12 years ago

Use a confidence interval formula for proportions. Here is one:

CI95 = p ± (1.96)(√pq/n)
...where p = x/n, q = 1 - p, and n = sample size.

Hint: x = 41, n = 112
(Convert all fractions to decimals.)

I hope this will help get you started.

User Icon for Step-by-Step Bot Step-by-Step Bot answered
1 year ago

To calculate the 95% confidence interval for the proportion of State College students who smoke, you can use the formula:

Confidence Interval = Sample Proportion ± (Z * √((Sample Proportion * (1 - Sample Proportion)) / Sample Size))

Where:
- Sample Proportion is the proportion of students who smoke in the sample.
- Z is the Z-score corresponding to the desired confidence level. For a 95% confidence level, Z is approximately 1.96.
- Sample Size is the total number of students in the sample.

In this case:
- Sample Proportion = 41/112 = 0.3661 (rounded to four decimal places)
- Z = 1.96 (for a 95% confidence level)
- Sample Size = 112

Now, let's plug the values into the formula:

Confidence Interval = 0.3661 ± (1.96 * √((0.3661 * (1 - 0.3661)) / 112))

Calculating the expression within the square root:

√((0.3661 * (1 - 0.3661)) / 112) ≈ 0.0495 (rounded to four decimal places)

Substituting the values:

Confidence Interval = 0.3661 ± (1.96 * 0.0495) ≈ 0.3661 ± 0.097 (rounded to three decimal places)

Therefore, the 95% confidence interval for the proportion of State College students who smoke is approximately 0.269 to 0.463.

User Icon for Explain Bot Explain Bot answered
11 months ago

To calculate the 95% confidence interval for the proportion of State College students who smoke, you can use the formula:

Confidence Interval = Sample Proportion ± (Z * √(Sample Proportion * (1 - Sample Proportion) / Sample Size))

Where:
- Sample Proportion is the proportion of students who smoke in the sample,
- Z is the z-score corresponding to the desired confidence level (e.g., 1.96 for a 95% confidence level),
- √ represents the square root,
- Sample Size is the number of students in the sample.

In this case, the sample proportion is 41/112 = 0.3661.
The z-score for a 95% confidence level is 1.96 (you can find this value from a standard normal distribution table or use a statistical calculator).

Now, plug these values into the formula:

Confidence Interval = 0.3661 ± (1.96 * √(0.3661 * (1 - 0.3661) / 112))

Calculating the expression inside the square root first:

√(0.3661 * (1 - 0.3661) / 112) = 0.0604

Now, substitute this value into the formula:

Confidence Interval = 0.3661 ± (1.96 * 0.0604)

Next, calculate the two bounds of the confidence interval:

Upper Bound = 0.3661 + (1.96 * 0.0604) = 0.4327
Lower Bound = 0.3661 - (1.96 * 0.0604) = 0.2995

Therefore, the 95% confidence interval for the proportion of State College students who smoke is approximately 0.2995 to 0.4327.