STA408 PYQ TOPIC 2 INTERVAL ESTIMATION ONE POP MEAN AND VARIANCE

FEBRUARY 2021 (Q2)

c) A biotechnology company produces a therapeutic drug whose concentration is normally
distributed with a mean of 16 grams per litre. A new method of producing this drug has been
proposed, although some additional cost is involved. Management will authorize a change in
production technique only if the mean of the concentration in the new process is more than 16
grams per litre. The researcher chose a sample of size 10 from the new process and obtained
the following data in grams per litre.
16.62 16.62 16.50 15.21 16.60 16.70 14.23 15.14 16.00 17.12
Assume that the data follow a normal distribution.
i) Find the mean and standard deviation for the data. (3 marks)
ii) Find the 95% confidence interval for the population standard deviation on all production
of a therapeutic drug. (4 marks)
JULY 2020 (Q2)
b) Mr. Ali jots down the time taken (in x minutes) for him to commute to work daily during his
first year of work. The travelling time is assumed to be approximately normally distributed and
the observations for 30 days are summed as follows.
∑ 𝑥 = 750, ∑ 𝑥 2 = 19157.8125
i) Compute the mean and standard deviation by using the summation values given. (3
marks)
ii) Construct a 98% confidence interval for the actual mean time taken for Mr. Ali to
commute to work daily. Interpret the interval. (5 marks)
iii) Mr. Ali colleagues say that he is a slow driver as he takes at least 27 minutes to reach
his office daily. Explain why you agree or disagree with the colleagues’ claim using the
interval in (ii). (2 marks)

JUNE 2019 (Q4)

b) A researcher conducted a survey on monthly mobile data bill (RM) by students. A random
sample of 15 students were selected and the data were recorded as follows. Assume that the
monthly mobile bill is normally distributed.
35 28 26 43 36
40 37 25 39 36
20 11 32 34 24
i) Calculate using formula the sample mean and the variance of the monthly mobile data
bill. (3 marks)
ii) Compute a 90% confidence interval to estimate the standard deviation of monthly
mobile data bill. (4 marks)

DEC 2018 (Q2)

a) A researcher claimed that the distribution of height of men in a population is normally
distributed with µ=69 inches and σ=2.5 inches. A sample of 100 men drawn randomly from
this population had an average height of 68.5 inches.
 ii) Construct a 98% confidence interval for the population mean. Interpret the interval. (5
marks)

JUNE 2018 (Q5)

The thickness of a plastic film (in mm) on a substrate material is thought to be influenced by
the temperature at which the coating applied. In completely randomized experiment, 11
substrates are coated at 52ºC, resulting in a sample mean coating thickness of 2.63 mm and
a sample standard deviation of 0.26 mm. Another 13 substrates are coated at 66ºC for which
a sample mean of 2.53 mm and a sample standard deviation of 0.51 mm are observed. The
Minitab output of the test for two variances is as given. Assume that the first and second
samples given in the output are the substrates coated at 52ºC and 66ºC respectively. Assume
also that the distribution of the thickness of plastic films is normal.

a) Construct a 95% confidence interval of the population standard deviation for the thickness
of a plastic film (in mm) on a substrate material at 52ºC. (5 marks)

JAN 2018 (Q2)

b) A precision instrument is guaranteed to read accurately with a standard deviation of 2 units.
A sample of 4 instruments readings on the same object yielded the measurements 0f 453,
451, 451 and 455 units. Assume that the data are normally distributed.

i) Construct a 90% confidence interval for the population variance. (4 marks)

END OF QUESTION