Formula sheets, the key method steps for every topic and 10 practice problems, with full solutions at the back.
The heights of adult men are normally distributed with mean 178 cm and standard deviation 7 cm. What fraction lies between 171.35 and 192 cm? Give P as a decimal.
The delivery times are normally distributed with mean 32 min and standard deviation 6 min. Find the value x below which 97.5% of them lie (the 97.5th percentile).
A 99% confidence interval for a mean, based on 50 observations and a known σ, has a margin of error of 9.5. What is the margin of error E₂ of a 95% interval based on 200 observations?
Two fertilisers are tested. Plot group 1: 5 plots, mean yield 62.5 kg, standard deviation 8.5 kg. Plot group 2: 7 plots, mean 52.5 kg, standard deviation 3.5 kg. Assume equal variances (pooled t, df = n₁ + n₂ − 2). Find the margin of error E of the 95% confidence interval for μ₁ − μ₂.
The mean of a population is claimed to be 120; the population standard deviation is known to be 18. A random sample of 36 observations has a mean of 116.1. Test H₀: μ = 120 against H₁: μ < 120. Find the p-value p.
How large must a sample be so that the 99% confidence interval for a mean has a margin of error of at most 2.5? The standard deviation is 4. Find the smallest sample size n.
The table gives 5 paired observations of x = hours studied and y = exam score. Find Pearson's correlation coefficient r.
The table gives 5 paired observations of x = temperature in °C and y = ice creams sold. Use the least-squares line ŷ = a + b·x. A new observation (22.5, 81) is made. Find its residual e = y − ŷ.
The contingency table shows observed counts. Compute the chi-square statistic χ² for the test of independence between the row and column variables. Do not use a continuity correction.
A chi-square test of independence is carried out on a contingency table with 2 rows and 11 columns (not counting the totals). How many degrees of freedom df does the test have?
Answer: P = 0.8062
Normal distribution: convert a value x to a z-score, z = (x − μ)/σ, which counts standard deviations from the mean. A z-table (or Φ(z)) gives the area to the left of z, which is P(X < x). The area to the right is 1 − Φ(z), and the area between two values is the difference of their two areas.
Answer: x = 43.76 min
Normal distribution: convert a value x to a z-score, z = (x − μ)/σ, which counts standard deviations from the mean. A z-table (or Φ(z)) gives the area to the left of z, which is P(X < x). The area to the right is 1 − Φ(z), and the area between two values is the difference of their two areas.
Answer: E₂ = 3.614
Confidence interval for a mean: x̄ ± margin of error. With a known population σ the margin is z·σ/√n; with only the sample standard deviation s, use t with n − 1 degrees of freedom: t·s/√n. Critical values: z = 1.645 (90%), 1.96 (95%), 2.576 (99%). To get a margin E or smaller, you need n ≥ (z·σ/E)², rounded up.
Answer: E = 7.855 kg
Interval for a difference: estimate ± critical value × standard error. For two independent means with known σ: SE = √(σ₁²/n₁ + σ₂²/n₂) and z. With equal unknown variances: pooled s_p and t with n₁ + n₂ − 2 degrees of freedom. For paired data, work with the differences: d̄ ± t·s_d/√n.
Answer: p = 0.0968
Hypothesis test: the test statistic = (estimate − value under H₀)/(standard error under H₀). The p-value is the probability, assuming H₀ is true, of a statistic at least as extreme as the one observed: the area in one tail for a one-sided H₁, twice the tail area for a two-sided H₁. Reject H₀ when p ≤ α.
p > 0.05, so H₀ is not rejected at the 5% level.
Answer: n = 17
Testing a mean: the test statistic measures how many standard errors the sample mean lies from the value claimed in H₀: z = (x̄ − μ₀)/(σ/√n) when σ is known, t = (x̄ − μ₀)/(s/√n) when it is estimated from the sample. A confidence interval is x̄ ± (critical value)·(standard error).
Answer: r = 0.9845
Least-squares regression: with x̄ and ȳ the means, Sxx = Σ(x − x̄)², Syy = Σ(y − ȳ)² and Sxy = Σ(x − x̄)(y − ȳ), the line ŷ = a + b·x has slope b = Sxy/Sxx and intercept a = ȳ − b·x̄, so it always passes through (x̄, ȳ). Pearson's correlation coefficient r = Sxy/√(Sxx·Syy) lies between −1 and 1; r² is the fraction of the variation in y explained by the line.
Answer: e = −1.9
Least-squares regression: with x̄ and ȳ the means, Sxx = Σ(x − x̄)², Syy = Σ(y − ȳ)² and Sxy = Σ(x − x̄)(y − ȳ), the line ŷ = a + b·x has slope b = Sxy/Sxx and intercept a = ȳ − b·x̄, so it always passes through (x̄, ȳ). Pearson's correlation coefficient r = Sxy/√(Sxx·Syy) lies between −1 and 1; r² is the fraction of the variation in y explained by the line.
The point lies below the line.
Answer: χ² = 11.98
Chi-square tests: compare observed counts O with the counts E expected under H₀ using χ² = Σ(O − E)²/E. Goodness of fit: E = n·p for each category, df = k − 1 (minus one more for each parameter estimated from the data). Independence in an r × c table: E = row total × column total / grand total, df = (r − 1)(c − 1). Reject H₀ when χ² exceeds the critical value for the chosen α.
df = 2. At α = 0.05 the critical value is 5.991, so H₀ (independence) is rejected.
Answer: df = 10
Chi-square tests: compare observed counts O with the counts E expected under H₀ using χ² = Σ(O − E)²/E. Goodness of fit: E = n·p for each category, df = k − 1 (minus one more for each parameter estimated from the data). Independence in an r × c table: E = row total × column total / grand total, df = (r − 1)(c − 1). Reject H₀ when χ² exceeds the critical value for the chosen α.
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