Scribd
Upload
732 views3 pages

Calculating and Interpreting Interval Estimates For Population Proportion

The document provides examples of how to calculate 95% confidence intervals for proportions from sample survey data. It shows the step-by-step workings for three examples: estimating the proportion of citizens who trust the president based on a sample of 1200, estimating the proportion of households with good trash management practices based on a sample of 458 households, and estimating the proportion of graduate students who want to major in science based on a sample of 850 students. The confidence intervals in each case indicate the range of values that would be expected to contain the true population proportion 95% of the time.

Uploaded by

Dania Bandojo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
732 views3 pages

Calculating and Interpreting Interval Estimates For Population Proportion

The document provides examples of how to calculate 95% confidence intervals for proportions from sample survey data. It shows the step-by-step workings for three examples: estimating the proportion of citizens who trust the president based on a sample of 1200, estimating the proportion of households with good trash management practices based on a sample of 458 households, and estimating the proportion of graduate students who want to major in science based on a sample of 850 students. The confidence intervals in each case indicate the range of values that would be expected to contain the true population proportion 95% of the time.

Uploaded by

Dania Bandojo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

EXAMPLE 1: A survey of 1200 citizens showed that 715 trust the President.

Compute a 95% confidence


interval for the proportion of all citizens who trust the President.

Step 1: Collect and present sample evidence with confidence level criteria

 Confidence level = 95% while α = 0.05


 X = 715; n = 1200

Step 2: Find point estimate of p which is ^p

X 715
 ^p ¿ = =0.595 ≈ 0.60
n 1200
Step 3: Find q^

 q^ ¿ 1− p=1−0.60=0.40

Step 4: Find maximum error of estimate

^p q^ ( 0.60 ) (0.40) 0.24



√ √ n
=
1200
=
√
1200
=√.0002=.0141

Step 5: Find limits

For the LOWER LIMIT

^p q^ ( 0.60 ) ( 0.40 )
 ^p−z α
2 √ n
=0.60−1.96
√ 1200
=.6−1.96 ( .0141 )=.6−.0276=0.5724 /57.24 %

For the UPPER LIMIT

^p q^ ( 0.60 )( 0.40 )
 ^p + z α
2 √ n
=0.60+1.96
√ 1200
=.6+ 1.96 (.0141 ) =.6+.0276=0.6276/62.76 %

Step 6: Describe results

 Thus, with 95% confidence, we can state that the interval from 57.24% to 62.76% contains the
true percentage of all citizens who trust the President

Example 2: In a survey of 458 random households, people take pride in discussing their methods of
environmental protection. 236 manage their trash by separating biodegradables from non-
biodegradables. Use a 95% confidence to estimate the proportion of all households who have good
practices of trash management.

Step 1: Confidence level = 95% while α = 0.05; X = 236; n = 458

X 236
Step 2: ^p ¿ = =0.5 153 ≈ 0.52
n 458
Step 3: q^ ¿ 1− p=1−0.52=0. 48
^p q^ ( 0. 52 ) (0. 48) 0.24 96
Step 4:
√ √ n
=
458
=
√
458
=√ .0005=.0 224

Step 5:

For the LOWER LIMIT


^p q^ ( 0. 52 )( 0. 48 )
^p−z α
2 √ n
=0.52−1.96
√ 458
=.52−1.96 ( .0224 )=.52−.0 439=0. 4761/47 . 61%

For the UPPER LIMIT

^p q^ ( 0. 52 )( 0. 48 )
 ^p + z α
2 √ n
=0.52+1.96
√ 458
=.52+1.96 ( .0 224 )=.52+. 0439=0. 5639/56 . 39 %

Step 6: Thus, with 95% confidence, we can state that the interval from 47.61% to 56.39% contains the
true percentage of all households who have good practices of trash management.

Example 3: In graduate teacher college, a survey was conducted to determine the proportion of
students who want to major in Science. If 368 out of 850 students said Yes, with 95% confidence, what
interpretation can we make regarding the probability that all students in the teacher graduate college
want to major in Science?

Step 1: Confidence level = 95% while α = 0.05; X = 368; n = 850

X 368
Step 2: ^p ¿ = =0. 4329 ≈ 0. 43
n 850
Step 3: q^ ¿ 1− p=1−0. 43=0. 57

^p q^ ( 0. 43 ) (0.57) 0.24 51
Step 4:
√ √ n
=
850
=
√
850
=√ .0003=.0 173

Step 5:

For the LOWER LIMIT


^p q^ ( 0. 43 )( 0. 57 )
^p−z α
2 √ n
=0. 43−1.96
√ 850
=. 43−1.96 ( .0173 )=.43−.0 33 9=0. 3961 /39 . 61 %

For the UPPER LIMIT


^p q^ ( 0. 43 )( 0. 57 )
^p + z α
2 √ n
=0. 43+1.96
√ 850
=. 43+ 1.96 (.0 173 ) =. 43+.0 3 39=0. 4 639/4 6 . 39 %
Step 6: Thus, with 95% confidence, we can assert that the interval from 39.61% to 46.39% contains the
true percentage of all graduate students who want to major in Science.\

Interpretation: This means that in repeated construction of confidence intervals, approximately 95% of
all the samples would produce confidence intervals that contain the true population proportion p. This
interpretation may lead to a course of action for school managers like embarking on a science course
campaign, improving the school environment for Science majors, and so on. Interpretations depend on
the importance of the solutions to emerging problems.

You might also like