Elementary statistical problems

For Vanguardia Program students

Standard normal distribution (z)

Solve the following problems using standard normal tables found in
statistics textbooks or using computations offered on the internet
or in Excel (formulas>more functions>statistical>Norm.S)
What is the area or probability under the standard normal curve
to the right of (i.e. more than) z = -1.4
outside of the interval of z between -2.1 and + 1.4
below z = 0.5
inside the interval of z +/- 1.75
outside the interval of z +/- 2.0

Student-t distribution (t)

Solve the following problems using standard normal tables found in
statistics textbooks or using computations offered on the internet
or in Excel (formulas>more functions>statistical>T.Dist).
If you are dealing with a variable that is distributed as student-t with
30 degrees of freedom,
What is the area or probability under the t-curve
to the right of (i.e. more than) t = -1.4
outside of the interval of t between -2.1 and + 1.4
below t = 0.5
inside the interval of t +/- 1.75
outside the interval of t +/- 2.0

Normal distribution
If the weight of the population of adult Belgian males (aBms) is
normally distributed with mean of 69 kilograms and standard
deviation of 5.5 kilograms, then:

what
kg?
what
what
what

% of aBms has a weight of less than 60 kg or more than 78

% of aBms has a weight of 69 kilogram or more?
% of aBms weigh between 55 and 60 kg?
is the 90%-certainty (two-tailed) interval around the mean?

Normal distribution
(and central limit theorem)
If the weight of the population of adult Belgian males (aBms) is distributed with
mean of 69 kilogram and standard deviation of 5.5 kilogram, then:
What, on average, will be the average weight observed in a random sample of
100 aBms?
What % of aBms has a weight of less than 60 kg or more than 78 kg?
What will be the standard deviation around the population mean of the average
weight in such a sample?
Within what interval around the population mean can we expect the sample
average to lie with a (two-tailed) certainty level of 95%?

Normal distribution
(and central limit theorem)
If we would know that 30% of a population has blond hair, and we
draw a random sample of 300 members out of that population and
compute the (sample) percentage of people with blond hair, then:
what will be the standard deviation of that sample percentage
around the population percentage of 30%?
within what interval around the mean of 30% will the sample
percentage lie with 95% certainty?
how would that interval be if the sample size would be doubled to
600 members?

Normal distribution
(and central limit theorem)
A random sample of 1000 people out of the population of Belgian
voters reveals that 25% intend to vote for the Social-democratic Party.
What is the 95%-confidence interval for these voting intentions?
How large a sample do you need in order to obtain a 95%confidence interval that corresponds to a range of +/- 1 % in voting
intentions?

Testing the difference of means

(independent sample)
25 girls (1st column) and boys (2nd column) have been selected at random from the pupils of a primary
school and subjected to a test of manual dexterity; the test scores (between 1 and 10 are shown below).
Can we conclude, with 95% confidence, that there is no difference between boys and girls?
3
4
3
3
5
6
7
7
6
8
4
9
6
6
7
5
4
6
7
5
4
4
6
1
3

4
3
4
6
6
3
3
2
4
3
6
8
3
4
3
6
6
6
5
8
4
4
4
6
3

Testing the difference of means

(matched samples)
25 girls (1st column) and boys (2nd column) have been selected at random from the pupils of a primary
school and subjected to a test of manual dexterity; the test scores (between 1 and 10 are shown below); in
each pair the girl and the boy belong to the same class. Can we conclude, with 95% confidence, that there
is no difference between boys and girls?
3
4
3
3
5
6
7
7
6
8
4
9
6
6
7
5
4
6
7
5
4
4
6
1
3

4
3
4
6
6
3
3
2
4
3
6
8
3
4
3
6
6
6
5
8
4
4
4
6
3

Chi distribution (univariate)

A firm tests a new package for its product. There are four
proposals for the new package (A, B, C, D).
1000 consumers have been asked to indicate their
preference, and that leads to the following results
A B C D total
210 320
220 250 1000
How could you test the hypothesis that each alternative is
equally preferred?

Chi distribution (univariate)

A firm tests a new package for its product. There are four proposals for the
new package (A, B, C, D). 1000 consumers have been asked to indicate their
preference, of whom 500 women and 500 men, leading to the following
results
A B C D total
women100 200 100 100 500
men 110 120 120 150 500
total 210 320 220 250 1000
How could you test the hypothesis that each alternative is equally preferred?
How strong is the sex related to the preference?