Math 117 Lab Assignment #2 Name:______________________

P. Guenther Due Thursday, July 22nd, 2021

**REMINDER—NO TWO STUDENTS SHOULD HAVE THE EXACT SAME LAB RESULTS. IF
THIS OCCURS, ALL STUDENTS WITH IDENTIAL LABS WILL RECEIVE A 0 ON THE
ASSIGNMENT

❖ You will create a lab report that will need to be turned in electronically as a pdf. The
report need only include the answers to the numbered questions. You should open up
an editing software like Microsoft Word and answer each of the questions, including
graphs where you are asked to do so. Then convert the document to a PDF. Usually,
you should be able to do this by choosing to “Export” as a PDF or “Save as a PDF”,
depending on what software you are using.
❖ The software we will use this semester is StatKey, free online software.

StatKey Resources:
http://www.lock5stat.com/StatKey/
http://www.lock5stat.com/datapage.html

Getting data into StatKey:

https://sites.google.com/site/lock5stat/getting-data-into-statkey

Copying output from StatKey:

https://sites.google.com/site/lock5stat/copying-output-from-statkey

Capturing Images
Parts of this lab (and most future labs) will require you to copy and paste images from the screen into your lab
report. Here's how to do this (if you don't know already!):

Mac: Press COMMAND+SHIFT+4, which will bring up a cross. Select the region you want to capture, and it will
be saved to your desktop. If you would rather copy the image instead of save it, press
CONTROL+COMMAND+SHIFT+4.

PC: Go to All Programs > Accessories > Snipping Tool. Clicking ``New" within the snipping tool allows you to
select the region you want to include in your image. After it is selected, you can either save it or copy it by right--‐
clicking on the image.

Chromebook:
https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/14/21065295/chromebook-screenshots-how-to-take-keyboard-keys

Please read carefully through this handout and answer each question as completely as you can.

Your answers to each question do not have to be long, but they should be as complete as possible. Aim to be
concise but thorough in your answers! You should also be sure to type your name at the top of your assignment so
we can easily see it. As always, you will be graded based on completeness and the correctness. Note that if
questions require calculations, it is expected that you show your work or describe how you arrived at your
answer.
Major League Baseball Salaries
The Sampling Distribution of a Sample Mean and the Central Limit Theorem

In this activity, you will be using at the distribution of major league baseball salaries. You will be taking random
samples of salaries and plotting sample means.

1. Before you look at the distribution of all major league baseball salaries from 2019...

(a) What do you think will be the shape of the distribution of salaries? Explain.

(b) What do you think the mean salary is of major league baseball players?

Let’s Look at the Population Distribution

To begin, select from the middle row Sampling Distributions Mean. In the drop-down menu, the first dataset listed
is “Baseball Players-3e (2019 Salary in millions. This is the data set you want. The population distribution is in the
window at the top right.

2. Once you have imported the salary data, answer these questions.

a. What is the shape of the distribution of salaries?

b. How many salaries are in the data set?

c. What is the mean salary?

d. What is the median salary?

e. Why does it make sense that the mean is larger than the median?

f. What is the standard deviation?

3. Let’s Look at the Sampling Distribution (n = 2)

(a) Near the Upload File button, click on “Choose samples of size n = “ and change the value to 2. Click on the
button “Generate One Sample.” Note that two salaries are selected and shown in the dotplot at the bottom right.
The mean of those two salaries is shown on the large dotplot. What is the mean?

(b) Click on “Generate One Sample” nine more times to get a total of 10 sample means based on samples of size n
= 2. Notice in the top right corner of the large dotplot for the sampling distribution of the sample means, you have
the number of samples, mean of the sampling distribution and standard deviation of the sampling distribution
shown.

What is the mean? What is the standard deviation of the sampling distribution (standard error)?

Now, click on “Generate 10 Samples” until you have a total of 200 samples of size n = 2.

4. Once you have created a partial sampling distribution based on sample means from
samples of size n = 2, answer these questions.

a. Why would we say this is only a partial sampling distribution?

b. What is the shape of your sampling distribution of the mean salary for n = 2?

c. What is the mean of your sampling distribution?

d. How does it compare to the mean salary of the entire population of baseball player salaries?
e. What is the standard deviation of your sampling distribution (standard error)?

f. How does it compare to the standard deviation of the entire population of baseball player salaries?

5. Let’s Look at the Sampling Distribution for Other Sample Sizes

Before we look at sampling distributions for means based on different sample sizes...

a. How do you think the shape of the sampling distribution of the sample mean will compare for n = 2 and n = 16?

b. How do you think the mean of the sampling distribution of the sample mean will compare for n = 2 and n = 16?

c. How do you think the standard deviation of the sampling distribution (standard error) of the sample mean will
compare for n = 2 and n = 16?

6. Complete the chart below for various sample sizes. Draw 2000 samples. When you change the sample size, hit
the “Reset Plot” button before you draw samples again (and draw at least 2000 samples each time). You may
retype this chart or you may just type the information without a table—just be sure to dedicate a line to
each sample size. Be sure your answer is clear.

Sample Size Shape Mean Standard Error

10

12

16

18

20

22

25

28

30

32

7. a. Based on your chart, what appears to happen to the shape as n gets larger and larger—does it stay the same
as the original distribution? If not, what does it appear to be changing to?

b. What happens to the center as n gets larger and larger—does it stay about the same or does it change? If it
changes, how does it change—a lot smaller, a lot larger, or ???

c. What happens to the spread as n gets larger and larger—does it stay the same or does it change? If it changes,
how does it change—a lot smaller or a lot larger, or ???
8. Now, let’s do some computations. From your table on the previous problem, we add a new column. In this
column, compute the population standard deviation,  , from problem #2f, divided by the square root of the
sample size. How does this computation compare to the standard error? You may retype this chart or you may
just type the information without a table—just be sure to dedicate a line to each sample size. Be sure your
answer is clear.

Sample Size Standard Error 

(From Problem #6) Compute
n

10

12

16

18

20

22

25

28

30

32
9. Let’s Summarize:

If we take random samples of size n from a population with mean,  , and standard deviation,  , then the
following is true:

(a) Mean of the sampling distribution of sample means is _______________

(b) Standard deviation of the sampling distribution of sample means,

standard error (SE), is ________________

Note: This is true no matter what the shape of the original distribution is!!!

(c) If we take a random samples of size n from a non-normal population with mean,  , and standard deviation,  ,
and n is sufficiently large (n > 30), then the shape of the sampling distribution is
___________________________.

(d) This amazing fact is commonly known as the _______________________ ___________________

_____________________________.

10. Let’s Look at another population.

In the dropdown menu at the top left, choose the data “Hollywood Movies-3e (Audience Score). The population
distribution is in the window at the top right.

a. What is the shape of the distribution of scores?

b. How many scores are in the data set?

c. What is the mean score?

d. What is the median score?

e. Why does it make sense that the mean is close to the median?

f. What is the standard deviation?

g. Near the Upload File button, click on “Choose samples of size n = “ and change the value to 2. Click on the
button “Generate One Sample.” Note that two scores are selected and shown in the dotplot at the bottom right.
The mean of those two scores is shown on the large dotplot. What is the mean?______

Click on “Generate One Sample” nine more times to get a total of 10 sample means based on samples of size n =
2. Notice in the top right corner of the large dotplot for the sampling distribution of the sample means, you have the
number of samples, mean of the sampling distribution and standard deviation of the sampling distribution shown.

h. What is the mean?

i. What is the standard deviation of the sampling distribution (standard error)?

Now, click on “Generate 10 Samples” until you have a total of 200 samples of size n = 2.
11. Once you have created a partial sampling distribution based on sample means from
samples of size n = 2, answer these questions.

a. What is the shape of your sampling distribution of the mean score for n = 2?

b. What is the mean of your sampling distribution?

c. How does it compare to the mean score of the entire population of audience scores?

d. What is the standard deviation of your sampling distribution (standard error)?

e. How does it compare to the standard deviation of the entire population of audience scores?

f. If we take random samples of size n (any size) from a normal population with mean,  , and standard deviation,
 , then the shape of the sampling distribution is ______________________________ for any sample size.