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The Central Limit Theorem for Proportions Quiz

12 questions math Grades 9-12

The question sheet

Reveal any answer as you study
  1. When the random variable is discrete or categorical, what parameter do we wish to estimate?

    • The population proportion
    • The population mean
    • The sample size
    • The variance
    Reveal answer

    Answer: The population proportion

    Source evidence

    PDF page 326: ̄ The Central Limit Theorem tells us that the point estimate for the sample mean, x , comes from a normal distribution of ̄ ̄ x 's. This theoretical distribution is called the sampling distribution of x 's. We now investigate the sampling distribution for another important parameter we wish to estimate; p from the binomial probability density function. If the random variable is discrete, such as for categorical data, then the parameter we wish to estimate is the population proportion. This is, of course, the probability of drawing a success in any one random draw. Unlike the case just discussed for a continuous random variable where we did not know the population distribution of X's, here we actually know the underlying probability density function for these data; it is the binomial. The random variable is X = the number of successes and the parameter we wish to know is p, the probability of drawing a success which is of course the proportion of successes x in the population. The question at issue is: from what distribution was the sample proportion, p' = drawn? The sample n size is n and X is the number of successes found in that sample. This is a parallel question that was just answered by the ̄ Central Limit Theorem: from what distribution was the sample mean, x , drawn? We saw that once we knew that the distribution was the Normal distribution then we were able to create confidence intervals for the population parameter, μ. We will also use this same information to test hypotheses about the population mean later. We wish now to be able to develop confidence intervals for the population parameter "p" from the binomial probability density function. In order to find the distribution from which sample proportions come we need to develop the sampling distribution of sample proportions just as we did for sample means. So again imagine that we randomly sample say 50 people and ask them if they support the new school bond issue. From this we find a sample proportion, p', and graph it on the axis of p's. We do this again and again etc., etc. until we have the theoretical distribution of p's. Some sample proportions will show high favorability toward the bond issue and others will show low favorability because random sampling will reflect the variation of views within the population. What we have done can be seen in Figure 7.9. The top panel is the population distributions of probabilities for each possible value of the random variable X. While we do not know what the specific distribution looks like because we do not know p, the population parameter, we do know that it must look something like this. In reality, we do not know either the mean or the standard deviation of this population distribution, the same difficulty we faced when analyzing the X's previously.

  2. For sample proportions, we know the underlying probability density function is which one?

    • Exponential
    • Uniform
    • Normal
    • Binomial
    Reveal answer

    Answer: Binomial

    Source evidence

    PDF page 326: ̄ The Central Limit Theorem tells us that the point estimate for the sample mean, x , comes from a normal distribution of ̄ ̄ x 's. This theoretical distribution is called the sampling distribution of x 's. We now investigate the sampling distribution for another important parameter we wish to estimate; p from the binomial probability density function. If the random variable is discrete, such as for categorical data, then the parameter we wish to estimate is the population proportion. This is, of course, the probability of drawing a success in any one random draw. Unlike the case just discussed for a continuous random variable where we did not know the population distribution of X's, here we actually know the underlying probability density function for these data; it is the binomial. The random variable is X = the number of successes and the parameter we wish to know is p, the probability of drawing a success which is of course the proportion of successes x in the population. The question at issue is: from what distribution was the sample proportion, p' = drawn? The sample n size is n and X is the number of successes found in that sample. This is a parallel question that was just answered by the ̄ Central Limit Theorem: from what distribution was the sample mean, x , drawn? We saw that once we knew that the distribution was the Normal distribution then we were able to create confidence intervals for the population parameter, μ. We will also use this same information to test hypotheses about the population mean later. We wish now to be able to develop confidence intervals for the population parameter "p" from the binomial probability density function. In order to find the distribution from which sample proportions come we need to develop the sampling distribution of sample proportions just as we did for sample means. So again imagine that we randomly sample say 50 people and ask them if they support the new school bond issue. From this we find a sample proportion, p', and graph it on the axis of p's. We do this again and again etc., etc. until we have the theoretical distribution of p's. Some sample proportions will show high favorability toward the bond issue and others will show low favorability because random sampling will reflect the variation of views within the population. What we have done can be seen in Figure 7.9. The top panel is the population distributions of probabilities for each possible value of the random variable X. While we do not know what the specific distribution looks like because we do not know p, the population parameter, we do know that it must look something like this. In reality, we do not know either the mean or the standard deviation of this population distribution, the same difficulty we faced when analyzing the X's previously.

  3. In estimating a proportion, what does the random variable X represent?

    • The proportion p
    • The number of successes
    • The sample size
    • The sample mean
    Reveal answer

    Answer: The number of successes

    Source evidence

    PDF page 326: ̄ The Central Limit Theorem tells us that the point estimate for the sample mean, x , comes from a normal distribution of ̄ ̄ x 's. This theoretical distribution is called the sampling distribution of x 's. We now investigate the sampling distribution for another important parameter we wish to estimate; p from the binomial probability density function. If the random variable is discrete, such as for categorical data, then the parameter we wish to estimate is the population proportion. This is, of course, the probability of drawing a success in any one random draw. Unlike the case just discussed for a continuous random variable where we did not know the population distribution of X's, here we actually know the underlying probability density function for these data; it is the binomial. The random variable is X = the number of successes and the parameter we wish to know is p, the probability of drawing a success which is of course the proportion of successes x in the population. The question at issue is: from what distribution was the sample proportion, p' = drawn? The sample n size is n and X is the number of successes found in that sample. This is a parallel question that was just answered by the ̄ Central Limit Theorem: from what distribution was the sample mean, x , drawn? We saw that once we knew that the distribution was the Normal distribution then we were able to create confidence intervals for the population parameter, μ. We will also use this same information to test hypotheses about the population mean later. We wish now to be able to develop confidence intervals for the population parameter "p" from the binomial probability density function. In order to find the distribution from which sample proportions come we need to develop the sampling distribution of sample proportions just as we did for sample means. So again imagine that we randomly sample say 50 people and ask them if they support the new school bond issue. From this we find a sample proportion, p', and graph it on the axis of p's. We do this again and again etc., etc. until we have the theoretical distribution of p's. Some sample proportions will show high favorability toward the bond issue and others will show low favorability because random sampling will reflect the variation of views within the population. What we have done can be seen in Figure 7.9. The top panel is the population distributions of probabilities for each possible value of the random variable X. While we do not know what the specific distribution looks like because we do not know p, the population parameter, we do know that it must look something like this. In reality, we do not know either the mean or the standard deviation of this population distribution, the same difficulty we faced when analyzing the X's previously.

  4. The probability of drawing a success in any one random draw equals the population:

    • Proportion
    • Variance
    • Mean
    • Median
    Reveal answer

    Answer: Proportion

    Source evidence

    PDF page 326: ̄ The Central Limit Theorem tells us that the point estimate for the sample mean, x , comes from a normal distribution of ̄ ̄ x 's. This theoretical distribution is called the sampling distribution of x 's. We now investigate the sampling distribution for another important parameter we wish to estimate; p from the binomial probability density function. If the random variable is discrete, such as for categorical data, then the parameter we wish to estimate is the population proportion. This is, of course, the probability of drawing a success in any one random draw. Unlike the case just discussed for a continuous random variable where we did not know the population distribution of X's, here we actually know the underlying probability density function for these data; it is the binomial. The random variable is X = the number of successes and the parameter we wish to know is p, the probability of drawing a success which is of course the proportion of successes x in the population. The question at issue is: from what distribution was the sample proportion, p' = drawn? The sample n size is n and X is the number of successes found in that sample. This is a parallel question that was just answered by the ̄ Central Limit Theorem: from what distribution was the sample mean, x , drawn? We saw that once we knew that the distribution was the Normal distribution then we were able to create confidence intervals for the population parameter, μ. We will also use this same information to test hypotheses about the population mean later. We wish now to be able to develop confidence intervals for the population parameter "p" from the binomial probability density function. In order to find the distribution from which sample proportions come we need to develop the sampling distribution of sample proportions just as we did for sample means. So again imagine that we randomly sample say 50 people and ask them if they support the new school bond issue. From this we find a sample proportion, p', and graph it on the axis of p's. We do this again and again etc., etc. until we have the theoretical distribution of p's. Some sample proportions will show high favorability toward the bond issue and others will show low favorability because random sampling will reflect the variation of views within the population. What we have done can be seen in Figure 7.9. The top panel is the population distributions of probabilities for each possible value of the random variable X. While we do not know what the specific distribution looks like because we do not know p, the population parameter, we do know that it must look something like this. In reality, we do not know either the mean or the standard deviation of this population distribution, the same difficulty we faced when analyzing the X's previously.

  5. The theoretical distribution of sample proportions p' is, according to the Central Limit Theorem:

    • Binomially distributed
    • Skewed right
    • Normally distributed
    • Uniformly distributed
    Reveal answer

    Answer: Normally distributed

    Source evidence

    PDF page 327: know the population mean because we do not know the population probability of success, p . Below the distribution of the population values is the sampling distribution of p 's. Again the Central Limit Theorem tells us that this distribution is ̄ normally distributed just like the case of the sampling distribution for x 's. This sampling distribution also has a mean, the mean of the p 's, and a standard deviation, σ . p' Importantly, in the case of the analysis of the distribution of sample means, the Central Limit Theorem told us the expected value of the mean of the sample means in the sampling distribution, and the standard deviation of the sampling distribution. Again the Central Limit Theorem provides this information for the sampling distribution for proportions. The answers are:

  6. In Figure 7.9, the mean of the population distribution is placed at which value?

    • p(1-p)
    • n/p
    • p/n
    • np
    Reveal answer

    Answer: np

    Source evidence

    PDF page 327: Figure 7.9 places the mean on the distribution of population probabilities as μ = np but of course we do not actually

    PDF page 327: know the population mean because we do not know the population probability of success, p . Below the distribution of the population values is the sampling distribution of p 's. Again the Central Limit Theorem tells us that this distribution is ̄ normally distributed just like the case of the sampling distribution for x 's. This sampling distribution also has a mean, the mean of the p 's, and a standard deviation, σ . p' Importantly, in the case of the analysis of the distribution of sample means, the Central Limit Theorem told us the expected value of the mean of the sample means in the sampling distribution, and the standard deviation of the sampling distribution. Again the Central Limit Theorem provides this information for the sampling distribution for proportions. The answers are:

  7. The expected value of the sample proportion, E(p'), equals:

    • p(1-p)
    • p
    • np
    • 1/n
    Reveal answer

    Answer: p

    Source evidence

    PDF page 327: E(p') = E = E(x) = np = p

  8. As the sample size n increases, the standard deviation of the sampling distribution for proportions:

    • Decreases
    • Stays the same
    • Increases
    • Becomes zero
    Reveal answer

    Answer: Decreases

    Source evidence

    PDF page 328: Notice the parallel between this Table and Table 7.1 for the case where the random variable is continuous and we were developing the sampling distribution for means. Reviewing the formula for the standard deviation of the sampling distribution for proportions we see that as n increases the standard deviation decreases. This is the same observation we made for the standard deviation for the sampling distribution for means. Again, as the sample size increases, the point estimate for either μ or p is found to come from a distribution with a narrower and narrower distribution. We concluded that with a given level of probability, the range from which the point estimate comes is smaller as the sample size, n, increases. Figure 7.8 shows this result for the case of sample means. Simply ̄ substitute p' for x and we can see the impact of the sample size on the estimate of the sample proportion.

  9. As n increases, the point estimate for μ or p comes from a distribution that is:

    • Unchanged
    • Narrower and narrower
    • Wider and wider
    • More skewed
    Reveal answer

    Answer: Narrower and narrower

    Source evidence

    PDF page 328: Notice the parallel between this Table and Table 7.1 for the case where the random variable is continuous and we were developing the sampling distribution for means. Reviewing the formula for the standard deviation of the sampling distribution for proportions we see that as n increases the standard deviation decreases. This is the same observation we made for the standard deviation for the sampling distribution for means. Again, as the sample size increases, the point estimate for either μ or p is found to come from a distribution with a narrower and narrower distribution. We concluded that with a given level of probability, the range from which the point estimate comes is smaller as the sample size, n, increases. Figure 7.8 shows this result for the case of sample means. Simply ̄ substitute p' for x and we can see the impact of the sample size on the estimate of the sample proportion.

  10. Why don't we know the specific shape of the population distribution for proportions?

    • We don't know p
    • It is continuous
    • It is not binomial
    • We don't have data
    Reveal answer

    Answer: We don't know p

    Source evidence

    PDF page 326: ̄ The Central Limit Theorem tells us that the point estimate for the sample mean, x , comes from a normal distribution of ̄ ̄ x 's. This theoretical distribution is called the sampling distribution of x 's. We now investigate the sampling distribution for another important parameter we wish to estimate; p from the binomial probability density function. If the random variable is discrete, such as for categorical data, then the parameter we wish to estimate is the population proportion. This is, of course, the probability of drawing a success in any one random draw. Unlike the case just discussed for a continuous random variable where we did not know the population distribution of X's, here we actually know the underlying probability density function for these data; it is the binomial. The random variable is X = the number of successes and the parameter we wish to know is p, the probability of drawing a success which is of course the proportion of successes x in the population. The question at issue is: from what distribution was the sample proportion, p' = drawn? The sample n size is n and X is the number of successes found in that sample. This is a parallel question that was just answered by the ̄ Central Limit Theorem: from what distribution was the sample mean, x , drawn? We saw that once we knew that the distribution was the Normal distribution then we were able to create confidence intervals for the population parameter, μ. We will also use this same information to test hypotheses about the population mean later. We wish now to be able to develop confidence intervals for the population parameter "p" from the binomial probability density function. In order to find the distribution from which sample proportions come we need to develop the sampling distribution of sample proportions just as we did for sample means. So again imagine that we randomly sample say 50 people and ask them if they support the new school bond issue. From this we find a sample proportion, p', and graph it on the axis of p's. We do this again and again etc., etc. until we have the theoretical distribution of p's. Some sample proportions will show high favorability toward the bond issue and others will show low favorability because random sampling will reflect the variation of views within the population. What we have done can be seen in Figure 7.9. The top panel is the population distributions of probabilities for each possible value of the random variable X. While we do not know what the specific distribution looks like because we do not know p, the population parameter, we do know that it must look something like this. In reality, we do not know either the mean or the standard deviation of this population distribution, the same difficulty we faced when analyzing the X's previously.

    PDF page 327: know the population mean because we do not know the population probability of success, p . Below the distribution of the population values is the sampling distribution of p 's. Again the Central Limit Theorem tells us that this distribution is ̄ normally distributed just like the case of the sampling distribution for x 's. This sampling distribution also has a mean, the mean of the p 's, and a standard deviation, σ . p' Importantly, in the case of the analysis of the distribution of sample means, the Central Limit Theorem told us the expected value of the mean of the sample means in the sampling distribution, and the standard deviation of the sampling distribution. Again the Central Limit Theorem provides this information for the sampling distribution for proportions. The answers are:

  11. The distribution of sample means is called the:

    • Binomial distribution
    • Sampling distribution of x-bar's
    • Population distribution
    • Uniform distribution
    Reveal answer

    Answer: Sampling distribution of x-bar's

    Source evidence

    PDF page 326: ̄ The Central Limit Theorem tells us that the point estimate for the sample mean, x , comes from a normal distribution of ̄ ̄ x 's. This theoretical distribution is called the sampling distribution of x 's. We now investigate the sampling distribution for another important parameter we wish to estimate; p from the binomial probability density function. If the random variable is discrete, such as for categorical data, then the parameter we wish to estimate is the population proportion. This is, of course, the probability of drawing a success in any one random draw. Unlike the case just discussed for a continuous random variable where we did not know the population distribution of X's, here we actually know the underlying probability density function for these data; it is the binomial. The random variable is X = the number of successes and the parameter we wish to know is p, the probability of drawing a success which is of course the proportion of successes x in the population. The question at issue is: from what distribution was the sample proportion, p' = drawn? The sample n size is n and X is the number of successes found in that sample. This is a parallel question that was just answered by the ̄ Central Limit Theorem: from what distribution was the sample mean, x , drawn? We saw that once we knew that the distribution was the Normal distribution then we were able to create confidence intervals for the population parameter, μ. We will also use this same information to test hypotheses about the population mean later. We wish now to be able to develop confidence intervals for the population parameter "p" from the binomial probability density function. In order to find the distribution from which sample proportions come we need to develop the sampling distribution of sample proportions just as we did for sample means. So again imagine that we randomly sample say 50 people and ask them if they support the new school bond issue. From this we find a sample proportion, p', and graph it on the axis of p's. We do this again and again etc., etc. until we have the theoretical distribution of p's. Some sample proportions will show high favorability toward the bond issue and others will show low favorability because random sampling will reflect the variation of views within the population. What we have done can be seen in Figure 7.9. The top panel is the population distributions of probabilities for each possible value of the random variable X. While we do not know what the specific distribution looks like because we do not know p, the population parameter, we do know that it must look something like this. In reality, we do not know either the mean or the standard deviation of this population distribution, the same difficulty we faced when analyzing the X's previously.

  12. The sample proportion p' is defined as x divided by:

    • the mean
    • n
    • np
    • p
    Reveal answer

    Answer: n

    Source evidence

    PDF page 326: ̄ The Central Limit Theorem tells us that the point estimate for the sample mean, x , comes from a normal distribution of ̄ ̄ x 's. This theoretical distribution is called the sampling distribution of x 's. We now investigate the sampling distribution for another important parameter we wish to estimate; p from the binomial probability density function. If the random variable is discrete, such as for categorical data, then the parameter we wish to estimate is the population proportion. This is, of course, the probability of drawing a success in any one random draw. Unlike the case just discussed for a continuous random variable where we did not know the population distribution of X's, here we actually know the underlying probability density function for these data; it is the binomial. The random variable is X = the number of successes and the parameter we wish to know is p, the probability of drawing a success which is of course the proportion of successes x in the population. The question at issue is: from what distribution was the sample proportion, p' = drawn? The sample n size is n and X is the number of successes found in that sample. This is a parallel question that was just answered by the ̄ Central Limit Theorem: from what distribution was the sample mean, x , drawn? We saw that once we knew that the distribution was the Normal distribution then we were able to create confidence intervals for the population parameter, μ. We will also use this same information to test hypotheses about the population mean later. We wish now to be able to develop confidence intervals for the population parameter "p" from the binomial probability density function. In order to find the distribution from which sample proportions come we need to develop the sampling distribution of sample proportions just as we did for sample means. So again imagine that we randomly sample say 50 people and ask them if they support the new school bond issue. From this we find a sample proportion, p', and graph it on the axis of p's. We do this again and again etc., etc. until we have the theoretical distribution of p's. Some sample proportions will show high favorability toward the bond issue and others will show low favorability because random sampling will reflect the variation of views within the population. What we have done can be seen in Figure 7.9. The top panel is the population distributions of probabilities for each possible value of the random variable X. While we do not know what the specific distribution looks like because we do not know p, the population parameter, we do know that it must look something like this. In reality, we do not know either the mean or the standard deviation of this population distribution, the same difficulty we faced when analyzing the X's previously.

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