Powell1 Eryn Powell Dr.

Cottril Introduction to Statistics 29 October 2013 Making Use of the Central Limit Theorem Statistics is the tool that we use in order to make inferences about the everybody based on the sample. The central limit theorem is fundamental in process of transferring the focus from the individual within the population to the sampling distribution statistic which allows one to come closer to the actual mean of the whole population. Gathering data on any quantitative data set within any given population is useless, unless one is able to accurately infer where that data falls within the whole of the population. Since nothing in statistics is ever truly proven, the central limit theorem allows one to take any sampling distribution and set it to a Normal distribution in order to have a more accurate portrayal of where any given sampling distribution falls within the whole population. In general, the central limit theorem states that when the sample size (n) is large, then the sampling distribution of x-bar, the sample mean, is approximately normal. This is a slightly more complicated way of saying that finding the mean of one sample within a population is not an accurate picture of the everybody, or the population as a whole. In order to create a more detailed picture of the population as a whole one sample is not enough; instead, one generates a large number of SRSs (simple random samples) finding the mean of each SRS to determine the average of those means collectively, brings the data closer to a Normal distribution: a symmetrical bell-curve, where all the data above the mean is fifty percent (50%) of the population and all data below the mean is the other fifty percent (50%). Put into practice, this

Powell2 method is useful in situations when trying to find the where a sample falls in comparison to the population mean or in relation to other samples within the Normal distribution. If one uses SAT scores as an example: the population mean for the math section of the SAT is about 500 with a standard deviation of 100, taking a SRS of size five (451, 493, 299,275,730 from line 114 on the random digit table) has a sample mean of 449.6 is close but not quite a good representation of the whole population. A single sample mean is just a collection of data and useless on its own; a sampling distribution takes multiple sample means all with the same sample size in order to describe the values in relation to all possible samples in the population. For this example the sample mean is 449.6 a sample distribution of the mean would take many more samples of size five in order to graph a distribution of all the sample means. Now, at a sample size of five it would take tens of thousands of sample means in order to come close to a Normal distribution, which is where the central limit theorem comes into play. The sample size is the main component of the central limit theorem. To get close to a Normal distribution a sample size of twenty-five to thirty is the best for each sample. The central limit theorem has the power to take any probability distribution and make it close to if not Normal, the larger sample size is what allows the distribution to be brought closer to the true population mean (Kahn Academy). If we are keeping up with the SAT example, plotting the frequency of each sample mean with a sample size thirty instead of five it not only creates a Normal distribution it also effects the standard deviation. The standard deviation of the population of math SAT scores is one-hundred, but using the central limit theorem a larger sample size (30) squeezes the distribution closer to the mean. Because a Normal distribution is a density curve the area underneath must still be the same: making the curve taller and smaller in width which makes the sample distributions standard deviation smaller.

Powell3 Confidence intervals are a good example population standard deviation as well as sample distributions standard deviations. The sample distributions standard deviation is the population distributions standard deviation divided by the sample size (n). Changing examples, with a sample size of 35 apples and a population of 300,000 and an unknown population mean, the standard deviation of sampling distribution is the populations standard deviation divided by the sample size. If the sample distribution has an average of 120 with a standard deviation of 40, one can calculate the probability that any given sample will fall within a certain set of parameters, for example, between 100 and 150. The standard deviation of the sample distribution can help identify the standard deviation of the population (Kahn Academy). The central limit theorem is one of the most fundamental concepts within statistics. Taking a strong SRS and having a large enough sample size is all anyone needs to make a quality inference about any population. Being able to gather information and interpret it on a larger scale is what makes the modern world work; everything from test scores to the weight of vegetables can be calculated. The sample can infer what is going on within the everybody, the population as a whole, something that is almost unimaginable without the central limit theorem.

Work Cited "Confidence Interval 1 | Confident Intervals |Khan Academy." Khan Academy. +Khan Academy, 2010. Web. 29 Oct. 2013. <https://www.khanacademy.org/math/probability/statisticsinferential/confidence-intervals/v/confidence-interval-1>.