Math Problem Statement

You are interested in studying social media use among the elderly. Through previous research, you know that the sampling distribution of the mean of your social media use measure has a mean of 3.2 (hours per week) and a standard deviation of 1.6. You plan to take a large random sample of elderly individuals. What is the probability that the mean level of social media use in your sample will be 4 hours per week or more?

Solution

To find the probability that the mean level of social media use in the sample will be 4 hours per week or more, we need to calculate the Z-score for 4 hours and then find the corresponding probability from the standard normal distribution.

Step 1: Calculate the Z-score

The formula for the Z-score is:

Z=Xμσ/nZ = \frac{X - \mu}{\sigma / \sqrt{n}}

Where:

  • XX is the sample mean (4 hours)
  • μ\mu is the population mean (3.2 hours)
  • σ\sigma is the population standard deviation (1.6 hours)
  • nn is the sample size

Since a large random sample is being taken, we can use the Central Limit Theorem, which states that the sampling distribution of the sample mean is approximately normal for large nn. We can proceed without knowing the exact sample size because the standard error will still be valid as long as nn is large.

Step 2: Plug in the values

Let's rewrite the Z-score formula:

Z=43.21.6/nZ = \frac{4 - 3.2}{1.6 / \sqrt{n}}

Since the sample size nn is large, we can assume that the standard error of the mean (σ/n\sigma / \sqrt{n}) approaches zero. Therefore, we can look up the Z value using the standard normal distribution tables or software for exact probabilities.

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Math Problem Analysis

Mathematical Concepts

Statistics
Probability
Sampling Distribution
Central Limit Theorem

Formulas

Z = (X - μ) / (σ / √n)
Standard Normal Distribution

Theorems

Central Limit Theorem

Suitable Grade Level

College Level (Statistics)