Chapter 6: Extra Practice Problems

Below is a list of extra practice problems from a different textbook relating to the material from Chapter 6:
Confidence Intervals

BD.6.3.1 Use the T-table to find the critical value (“multiplier term”) for a confidence interval based on the
following confidence levels (confidence coefficient) and sample sizes:

BD.6.3.3. A study reported the maximal nitric oxide diffusion rate in a sample of 15 asthmatic school children
as mean ± standard error of the mean and reported 3.5 ± 0.4 nL/s (nanoliters per second).
a) What was the sample standard deviation?
b) What is the 95% confidence interval for the mean maximal nitric oxide diffusion rate of the
population of asthmatic children?
c) What assumptions are necessary for the validity of the confidence interval you constructed?
d) Interpret the confidence interval calculated in b).

1. The 2010 General Social Survey asked the question “For how many days during the past 30 days was your
mental health, which includes stress, depression, and problems with emotions, not good?” Based on
responses from 1151 US residents, the survey reported a 95% confidence interval of 3.40 to 4.24 days in 2010.
a) What is the parameter of interest?
b) Interpret the confidence interval in the context of the data
c) What does “95% confident” mean? Explain in the context of the application.
d) If a new survey were to be done with 500 Americans, would the standard error of the estimate be
larger, smaller, or about the same? Assume the standard deviation has remained constant since 2010.

BD.6.4.7. Twenty-four experimental animals with vitamin D deficiency were divided equally into two groups.
Group 1 received treatment consisting of a diet that provided vitamin D. The second group was not treated. At
the end of the experimental period, serum calcium determinations were made with the following results:

Assume normally distributed populations with unequal variances.

a) Construct a 99% confidence interval for the difference between populations mean.
b) Interpret the confidence interval in a).
c) Confirm your answer in part a) using Minitab.
d) Based on the confidence interval, does it appear likely that the populations means are different?
Explain your answer.