CHAPTER 7 (Part B)

SAMPLING
DISTRIBUTIONS

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

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7.3 SHAPE OF THE SAMPLING DISTRIBUTION OF x

 The population from which samples are

drawn has a normal distribution.
 The population from which samples are
drawn does not have a normal
distribution.

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

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Sampling From a Normally Distributed
Population
 If the population from which the samples
are drawn is normally distributed with mean
μ and standard deviation σ, then the
sampling distribution of the sample mean,
x , will also be normally distributed with
the following mean and standard deviation,
irrespective of the sample size:

 x   and  x 
n
Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons. All right reserved
Figure : Population distribution and sampling
distributions ofx .

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons. All right reserved
Example
 In a recent SAT, the mean score for all
examinees was 1020. Assume that the
distribution of SAT scores of all examinees is
normal with the mean of 1020 and a standard
deviation of 153. Let x be the mean SAT score
of a random sample of certain examinees.
Calculate the mean and standard deviation of x
and describe the shape of its sampling
distribution when the sample size is
 (a) 16 (b) 50 (c) 1000

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons. All right reserved
Example 7-3: Solution

(a) μ = 1020 and σ = 153.

 x    1020
 153
x    38.250
n 16

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons. All right reserved
Figure

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

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Example: Solution

(b)

 x    1020
 153
x    21.637
n 50

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

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Figure

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons. All right reserved
Example: Solution

(c)

 x    1020
 153
x    4.838
n 1000

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons. All right reserved
Figure

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons. All right reserved
 Sampling From a Population That Is Not
Normally Distributed
 Central Limit Theorem
 According to the central limit theorem, for a large
sample size, the sampling distribution of x is
approximately normal, irrespective of the shape of
the population distribution. The mean and standard
deviation of the sampling distribution of x are

 x   and  x 
n
 The sample size is usually considered to be large if
 n ≥ 30.

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons. All right reserved
Figure: Population distribution and sampling
distributions ofx .

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons. All right reserved
Example

 The mean rent paid by all tenants in a small city

is $1550 with a standard deviation of $225.
However, the population distribution of rents for
all tenants in this city is skewed to the right.
Calculate the mean and standard deviation of x
and describe the shape of its sampling
distribution when the sample size is
 (a) 30 (b) 100

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons. All right reserved
Example: Solution

(a) Let x be the mean rent paid by a sample

of 30 tenants.

 x    $1550
 225
x    $41.079
n 30

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons. All right reserved
Figure

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons. All right reserved
Example: Solution

(b) Let x be the mean rent paid by a sample

of 100 tenants.

 x    $1550
 225
x    $22.500
n 100

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons. All right reserved
Figure

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons. All right reserved
7.4 APPLICATIONS OF THE SAMPLING
DISTRIBUTION OF x

1. If we take all possible samples of the

same (large) size from a population and
calculate the mean for each of these
samples, then about 68.26% of the
sample means will be within one
standard deviation of the population
mean.

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons. All right reserved
Figure P (   1 x  x    1 x )

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons. All right reserved
APPLICATIONS OF THE SAMPLING
DISTRIBUTION OF x

2. If we take all possible samples of the

same (large) size from a population and
calculate the mean for each of these
samples, then about 95.44% of the
sample means will be within two standard
deviations of the population mean.

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons. All right reserved
Figure P (   2 x  x    2 x )

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons. All right reserved
APPLICATIONS OF THE SAMPLING
DISTRIBUTION OF x

3. If we take all possible samples of the

same (large) size from a population and
calculate the mean for each of these
samples, then about 99.74% of the
sample means will be within three
standard deviations of the population
mean.

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons. All right reserved
Figure P (   3 x  x    3 x )

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons. All right reserved
Example

Assume that the weights of all packages of

a certain brand of cookies are normally
distributed with a mean of 32 ounces and a
standard deviation of .3 ounce. Find the
probability that the mean weight, x , of a
random sample of 20 packages of this
brand of cookies will be between 31.8 and
31.9 ounces.

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons. All right reserved
Example: Solution

 x    32 ounces
 .3
x    .06708204 ounce
n 20

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons. All right reserved
z Value for a Value of x

The z value for a value of x is calculated

as

x 
z 
x

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons. All right reserved
Example: Solution

31.8  32
 For x = 31.8: z  2.98
.06708204
31.9  32
 For x = 31.9: z  1.49
.06708204

 P(31.8 < x < 31.9) = P(-2.98 < z < -1.49)

= P(z < -1.49) - P(z < -2.98)
= .0681 - .0014 = .0667

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

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Figure

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons. All right reserved
Example
According to Sallie Mae surveys and Credit
Bureau data, college students carried an
average of $3173 credit card debt in 2008.
Suppose the probability distribution of the
current credit card debts for all college
students in the United States is known but
its mean is $3173 and the standard
deviation is $750. Let x be the mean credit
card debt of a random sample of 400 U.S.
college students.
Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E
Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons. All right reserved
Example

a) What is the probability that the mean of

the current credit card debts for this
sample is within $70 of the population
mean?
b) What is the probability that the mean of
the current credit card debts for this
sample is lower than the population mean
by $50 or more?

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons. All right reserved
Example: Solution

μ = $3173 and σ = $750. The shape of

the probability distribution of the
population is unknown. However, the
sampling distribution of is
approximately normal because the
sample is large (n > 30).
Example: Solution
(a)

 P($3103 ≤ x ≤ $3243)
= P(-1.87 ≤ z ≤ 1.87)
= .9693 - .0307
= .9386

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons. All right reserved
Figure P ($3103  x  $3243)

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons. All right reserved
Example: Solution

(a) Therefore, the probability that the mean

of the current credit card debts for this
sample is within $70 of the population
mean is .9386.

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons. All right reserved
Example: Solution
(b)
 For x = $3123:
3123  3173
z  1.33
37.50

 P( x ≤ 3123) = P (z ≤ -1.33)
= .0918

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

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Figure P ( x  $3123)

Prem Mann, Introductory Statistics, 7/E

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons. All right reserved