Formula sheets, the key method steps for every topic and 10 practice problems, with full solutions at the back.
The masses of boxes are independent and normal with mean 12 kg and standard deviation 0.8 kg. Find the probability P that the total mass of 6 of them is below 69.1 kg. Round z to two decimals.
Runner A's lap time X and runner B's lap time Y are independent and normal: X has mean 52 s and standard deviation 4 s, Y has mean 48 s and standard deviation 3 s. Find the probability P that X is greater than Y. Round z to two decimals.
A 99% confidence interval for a mean, based on 36 observations and a known σ, has a margin of error of 4. What is the margin of error E₂ of a 95% interval based on 144 observations?
A pilot study suggests that about 0.2 of products are defective. How many products n must be inspected so that a 99% confidence interval for the proportion has a margin of error of at most 0.025?
A sample of 81 students has a mean score of 71.89 and a sample standard deviation of 20. Find the test statistic t for H₀: μ = 75.
A one-sided z test at α = 0.05 must detect a shift of the mean of 3 units with a power of 80%. The standard deviation is 20. Find the minimum sample size n.
The table gives 5 paired observations of x = load in kN and y = extension in mm. Find Pearson's correlation coefficient r.
The table gives 5 paired observations of x = hours studied and y = exam score. Use the least-squares line ŷ = a + b·x. A new observation (1.5, 52) 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 goodness-of-fit test compares observed counts in 10 categories with fully specified expected proportions (no parameters are estimated from the data). How many degrees of freedom df does the test have?
Answer: P = 0.06944
Sums and differences of normal variables: if X and Y are independent and normal, X + Y and X − Y are normal too. Means add or subtract: E(X ± Y) = μX ± μY. Variances always add, also for a difference: Var(X ± Y) = σX² + σY², so σ = √(σX² + σY²). Standard deviations never add directly. The total of n independent items with the same distribution has mean n·μ and standard deviation σ·√n. Then standardise as usual: z = (x − mean)/σ and read Φ(z).
Answer: P = 0.7881
Sums and differences of normal variables: if X and Y are independent and normal, X + Y and X − Y are normal too. Means add or subtract: E(X ± Y) = μX ± μY. Variances always add, also for a difference: Var(X ± Y) = σX² + σY², so σ = √(σX² + σY²). Standard deviations never add directly. The total of n independent items with the same distribution has mean n·μ and standard deviation σ·√n. Then standardise as usual: z = (x − mean)/σ and read Φ(z).
Answer: E₂ = 1.522
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: n = 1699
Confidence interval for a proportion: p̂ ± z·√(p̂(1 − p̂)/n), where p̂ = x/n. To reach a margin E you need n ≥ z²·p(1 − p)/E², rounded up; without a prior estimate use p = 0.5, which gives the largest n.
Answer: t = −1.399
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).
|t| < 1.99, so H₀ is not rejected at the 5% level (two-sided).
Answer: n = 275
Sample size for a test: to detect a true shift δ with power 1 − β in a one-sided z test at level α, the standard error must satisfy δ = (z_α + z_β)·σ/√n, so n = ((z_α + z_β)·σ/δ)², rounded up.
Answer: r = 0.9906
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 = −4.9
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 = 19.39
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 = 1. At α = 0.05 the critical value is 3.841, so H₀ (independence) is rejected.
Answer: df = 9
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.
ExamProblems · examproblems.com/courses/statistics-2-inference