An educational psychologist wishes to know the mean number of words a third grader can read per minute. She wants to make an estimate at the 80% level of confidence. For a sample of 840 third graders, the mean words per minute read was 40.6. Assume a population standard deviation of 4.1. Construct the confidence interval for the mean number of words a third grader can read per minute. Round your answers to one decimal place.

Answer :

Answer:

The 80% confidence interval for the mean number of words a third grader can read per minute is between 40.4 wpm and 40.8 wpm.

Step-by-step explanation:

We have that to find our [tex]\alpha[/tex] level, that is the subtraction of 1 by the confidence interval divided by 2. So:

[tex]\alpha = \frac{1-0.8}{2} = 0.1[/tex]

Now, we have to find z in the Ztable as such z has a pvalue of [tex]1-\alpha[/tex].

So it is z with a pvalue of [tex]1-0.1 = 0.99[/tex], so [tex]z = 1.28[/tex]

Now, find M as such

[tex]M = z*\frac{\sigma}{\sqrt{n}}[/tex]

In which [tex]\sigma[/tex] is the standard deviation of the population and n is the size of the sample.

[tex]M = 1.28*\frac{4.1}{\sqrt{840}} = 0.2[/tex]

The lower end of the interval is the sample mean subtracted by M. So it is 40.6 - 0.2 = 40.4 words per minute.

The upper end of the interval is the sample mean added to M. So it is 40.6 + 0.2 = 40.8 words per minute.

The 80% confidence interval for the mean number of words a third grader can read per minute is between 40.4 wpm and 40.8 wpm.

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