Confidence Intervals for Proportions

Identify the confidence interval used in the figure below if each shaded area is equal to 0.05.

• 90%
• 95%
• 98%
• 99%

The symbol for the sample proportion is __________.

• z*

• p̂

• E

• p

A research company wants to estimate the proportion of people who like oatmeal.  They want the confidence level to be 95%.  The company gets 325 people to sign up for the survey, but on the day that the survey is issued, only 250 people show up and take the survey.  What happens to the confidence interval?

• It gets larger
• It gets smaller
• It stays the same
• Too little information given

Find the value of z* for a 90% confidence interval.

• -1.96

• 1.645

• 1.440

• -1.598

A sample of 400 racing cars showed that 80 cars cost over $700,000. What is the 99% confidence interval of the true proportion of cars costing over $700,000?

• 0.001 < p < 0.005
• 0.566 < p < 0.693
• 0.148 < p < 0.252
• 0.023 < p < 0.045

A recent study of 750 Internet users in Europe found that 35% of Internet users were women.  What is the 95% confidence interval of the true proportion of women in Europe who use the Internet? 

• 0.321 < p < 0.379
• 0.316 < p < 0.384
• 0.309 < p < 0.391
• 0.305 < p < 0.395

In a survey of 104 students, it was found that 79 went to the homecoming game this year.

A 99% confidence interval for p is (0.652, 0.868). Interpret this interval.

• 99% of the time the true proportion of people who went to the homecoming game this year is between 65.2% and 86.6%.

• The probability that the population proportion of people who went to the homecoming game this year is between 65.2% and 86.6% is 95%.

• Based on this sample, I am 99% confident that the true proportion of people who went to the homecoming game this year is between 65.2% and 86.6%.

• 99% of all possible intervals calculated this way will capture the true proportion of people who went to the homecoming game this year

Find the critical value, z*, for 91% confidence.

• 1.70

• 1.34

• 0.18

• -1.34

Find the critical value, z* for 97%

• 1.88

• 2.17

• -1.88

• -2.17

Which confidence would result in a wider interval (assuming nothing else changed), 91% or 97%?

• 97%, z* is larger for higher confidence intervals

• 97%, the standard error is larger for higher confidence intervals

• 91%, z* is larger for lower confidence intervals

• 91%, the standard error is smaller for lower confidence intervals