Students collect sample data from their class to estimate the
median foot size of the population of students in the class. Each student obtains a point
estimate and constructs an interval estimate for the median foot size in the entire class by using a
simple random sample of 10 students in the class. Numeric summaries (mean and five-number
summary) and box plots are used to obtain point and interval estimates, respectively, for the
median foot size of the entire class. The teacher records the foot size of all students in class in
order to obtain the population median foot size of the entire class. The confidence level, or
reliability, for the interval estimates computed by the students is estimated by obtaining the
proportion of students' sample interval estimates that trap the population median foot size of the
entire class. In the second part of this activity, students use online statistical software to explore
relationships between both different sample sizes and different shapes of a population
distribution, and the variability in bounds of interval estimates and the intervals’ reliability to
estimate the population median (level of confidence or proportion of sample interval estimates
that trap the population median). Conclusions are drawn about these relationships through
computer simulations using the freely available statistical software SeeIt.
- Subject:
- Mathematics
- Material Type:
- Activity/Lab
- Provider:
- Statistics Education Web
- Date Added:
- 04/04/2018