STAT 1430 Sampling Distribution

1. Suppose Bob wants to estimate the current GPA of all freshmen students at OSU. He takes a
random sample of 100 freshmen at OSU and finds their current mean GPA is 3.15.
a. Describe the population in words.
b. Describe the parameter in words.
c. What is the sample?
d. What is the statistic?

See your lecture notes for the answers to 2-6:

2. In lecture we learned that the mean of all the sample means equals the mean of the
population.
a. Write this sentence in symbols
b. Explain WHY this equality makes sense.

3. Suppose X has a distribution with mean µx and standard deviation σx.

a. We know that the mean of the random variable 𝑋𝑋� is written with this symbol
_____, and it is equal to ______________.
b. We know that the standard error (deviation) of the random variable X-bar is
written with this symbol________ and it is equal to __________.
4.
a. Explain how the sample size affects the standard error of X-bar.
b. Explain how the population standard deviation affects the standard error of X-bar.
5. Shape
a. If the random variable X has a normal distribution, then the random variable
𝑋𝑋� has a shape which is a ________________ distribution.
b. If the random variable X does NOT have a normal distribution, then the
random variable 𝑋𝑋� has a shape which is an______________ ________________
distribution if n is large enough (n must be _____________________).

6. As n increases, which of the following statements is true?

a. The standard error of the sample mean decreases.
b. The population standard deviation decreases.
c. The population standard deviation increases.
d. The standard error of the sample mean increases.

7. The mean of 𝑋𝑋� equals the mean of X when?

a. Only if X has a normal distribution
b. Only if n is large
c. Both a and b are needed
d. This statement is always true no matter what.
 STAT 1430 Sampling Distribution

8. The population mean:

a. Is always larger than or equal to the sample mean
b. Is always smaller than or equal to the sample mean
c. Can be smaller than, or larger than, or equal to the sample mean
d. None of the above

9. Let 𝑋𝑋� be the sample mean from X’s distribution. The standard error of 𝑋𝑋� is:
a. The same as the standard deviation of X
b. Greater than the standard deviation of X
c. Less than the standard deviation of X

10. 𝑋𝑋� = 𝑥𝑥̅

a. True
b. False

11. If X has a normal distribution then 𝑋𝑋� has a normal distribution no matter what n is.
a. True
b. False

12. 𝑋𝑋� = µ
a. True
b. False

13. Suppose test scores (X) have a normal distribution with mean 70 and standard
deviation 5.
a. If you sample one test score at random, what is the chance that it will be less than 65?

b. If you sample 36 test scores at random, what is the chanced that the average will be less than 65?

14. Suppose prices of a gallon of milk have a normal distribution with a mean $3.00 and
standard deviation $0.25.
If you sample 36 gallons of milk at random, what’s the chance that their average price is
more than $3.25?

15. If the average cost of a turkey in Columbus Ohio is supposed to be $1.00 per pound, what is
the chance that a sample of 36 turkeys weigh between 95 cents and $1.05 per pound?
Assume the standard deviation is 10 cents and that the cost of a turkey in Columbus has a
normal distribution.
STAT 1430 Sampling Distribution

Use your lecture notes:

16. What does CLT stand for?

17. How large does n have to be for the CLT to take effect, assuming X did not have a
normal distribution?
a. n at least 30
np at least 10 and n(1-p) at least 10
n can be any number
None of these

18. What aspects of X does the CLT apply to?

a. Shape
b. Mean
c. Standard Error
d. All of the above
e. None of the above

19. The Central Limit Theorem states that, if a random sample of size n is drawn from a
population, then the sampling distribution of the sample mean X :
a. Is approximately normal if n >= 30
Is approximately normal if n < 30
Is approximately normal if the underlying population is normal
Has the same variance as the population

20. If X has a normal distribution, could you find a probability for X if n was only 10?
a. Yes, because X has a normal distribution already.
b. No, because you always need n to be at least 30.

21. If the values in the population are skewed, the sampling distribution of X can be
approximated by the normal distribution if the sample contains at least 30 observations.
a. True
False

22. Let X be the sample mean from X’s distribution. Suppose X does not have a normal
distribution. The distribution (shape) of X is:
a. Exactly normal
Approximately normal for any sample size by the Central Limit Theorem
Approximately normal for large enough samples by the Central Limit Theorem
None of the above

23. The Central Limit Theorem is important in statistics because:

a. For n large, it says the distribution of the sample mean is approximately normal,
regardless of the shape of the population.
STAT 1430 Sampling Distribution

For any sample size, it says the sampling distribution of the sample mean is approximately
normal.
For n large, it says the distribution of the sample mean is exactly normal, regardless of the shape
of the population.
For any sample size, it says the sampling distribution of the sample mean is exactly normal

24. Suppose X has a normal distribution and X represents the average of a sample of size n.
Which of the following is true?
a. X has an approximate normal distribution for any value of n.
X has an approximate normal distribution if n is large enough.
X has an exact normal distribution for any value of n.
X has an exact normal distribution if the sample size is large enough.

25. The Central Limit Theorem tells us about the _____________________ of the sampling
distribution of X when X does not have a normal distribution:
a. Shape
b. Mean
c. Standard Error
d. All of the above

26. Suppose the age of the customers at post office has a non-normal distribution with mean
40 and standard deviation 5 years.

i. Select 100 customers at random. What is the distribution of their average age?
Describe its shape, it’s mean, and standard error.

ii. What is the chance that the average age for 100 customers from the post office is over
41?

iii. Would you take the same approach to the previous two parts if you had a sample of
only 2 customers?

27. Suppose the time to delivery of a package has SOME distribution with mean 2 days and
standard deviation 0.5 days.

i. What is the chance that 36 packages selected at random have an average delivery time
of more than 2.2 days?
ii. Did you use the Central Limit Theorem to answer this question? Explain.

28. At a fast food restaurant, the waiting time at the drive-through window has an average of
3 minutes, with a standard deviation of 0.8 minutes.

i. What is the probability that a random sample of 64 cars will have an average waiting
time of less than 3.25 minutes?

ii. Did you use the CLT to do this problem? Explain.

STAT 1430 Sampling Distribution

29. The heights of basketball players are normally distributed, with a mean of 78 inches, with
a standard deviation of 3 inches.

i. What is the probability that a randomly chosen basketball player will be taller than 77
inches?

ii. Suppose we take a sample of 16 basketball players. Find the probability that the
average height of this sample is larger than 77 inches.

iii. Did you use the CLT to do the previous problem? Explain.