AP Statistics

Assignment: Sampling Distributions

Page 1 of 3

1. Consider a parent population with mean 75 and a standard deviation 7. The population
doesn't appear to have extreme skewness or outliers.
A. What are the mean and standard deviation of the distribution of sample means
for n = 40? (2 points)
B. What's the shape of the distribution? Explain your answer in terms of the
Central Limit Theorem. (1 point)
C. What proportion of the sample means of size 40 would you expect to be 77 or
less? If you use your calculator, show what you entered. (1 point)
D. Draw a sketch of the probability you found in part C. (1 point)
2. Suppose over several years of offering AP Statistics, a high school finds that final exam
scores are normally distributed with a mean of 78 and a standard deviation of 6.
A. What are the mean, standard deviation, and shape of the distribution of x-bar
for n = 50? (2 points)
B. What's the probability a sample of scores will have a mean greater than 80?
(1 point)
C. Sketch the distribution curve for part B, showing the area that represents the
probability you found. (1 point)
3. Suppose college faculty members with the rank of professor at two-year institutions earn
an average of $52,500 per year with a standard deviation of $4,000. In an attempt to
verify this salary level, a random sample of 60 professors was selected from a personnel
database for all two-year institutions in the United States.
A. What are the mean and standard deviation of the sampling distribution for
n = 60? (2 points)
B. What's the shape of the sampling distribution for n = 60? (1 point)
C. Calculate the probability the sample mean x-bar is greater than $55,000.
(1 point)
D. If you drew a random sample with a mean of $55,000, would you consider this
sample unusual? What conclusions might you draw? (1 point)

______________________________
Copyright 2011 Apex Learning Inc. (See Terms of Use at www.apexvs.com/TermsOfUse)

AP Statistics
Assignment: Sampling Distributions

Page 2 of 3

4. A manufacturer of paper used for packaging requires a minimum strength of 20 pounds

per square inch. To check the quality of the paper, a random sample of ten pieces of
paper is selected each hour from the previous hour's production and a strength
measurement is recorded for each. The distribution of strengths is known to be normal
and the standard deviation, computed from many samples, is known to equal 2 pounds
per square inch. The mean is known to be 21 pounds per square inch.
A. What are the mean and standard deviation of the sampling distribution for
n = 10? (2 points)
B. What's the shape of the sampling distribution for n = 10? (1 point)
C. Draw a random sample of size 10 from this distribution and compute the mean
of the sample, using the randNorm function on your calculator. On a TI-83/84
store the values in L1: MATH [PRB] randNorm(21,2,10) STO [L1]. On a TI-89
Store the values in list1: seq(randNorm(21,2),x,1,10,1) -> list1.
On the TI-83/84 you can then get the mean of the values by doing 1Var stats
on the values in L1. Then Press STAT, arrow to calc, select 1-Var stats, Press
ENTER, then 2nd [L1] ENTER.
On the TI-89 you can then get the mean of the values by doing 1-Var Stats on
the values in list1. Enter List Editor, then press F4: 1:1-Var Stats.... Enter list1
as your list and press ENTER twice to do the calculation.
Write down all your sample values. What are the mean and sample standard
deviation of this sample? Compare them with the mean and standard deviation
of the parent population, and explain why they're different or the same.
(2 points)
D. Using the mean and standard deviation of the sampling distribution (from part
A), calculate the probability of getting a sample mean less than what you got.
If you use a calculator, show what you entered. (2 points)
5. Suppose a random sample of n = 25 observations is selected from a normal population,
with mean 106 and standard deviation 12.
A. Find the probability that x-bar exceeds 110. Show the mean and standard
deviation you used. (2 points)
B. Find the probability that the sample mean deviates from the population mean
= 106 by no more than 4. (1 point)
C. Sketch the probability distribution from part B, showing the area that
represents the probability you found. (1 point)

______________________________
Copyright 2011 Apex Learning Inc. (See Terms of Use at www.apexvs.com/TermsOfUse)

AP Statistics
Assignment: Sampling Distributions

Page 3 of 3

Acknowledgements
Question 3:
This question is based on question 7.24 (c & d) from page 261 of Introduction to Probability and Statistics, Tenth
Edition, by W. Mendenhall, R. Beaver, and B. Beaver. Copyright 1999 by Brooks Cole, division of Thompson
Learning Incorporated. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission of the publisher.
Question 4:
This question is based on question 7.26 from page 262 of Introduction to Probability and Statistics, Tenth Edition,
by W. Mendenhall, R. Beaver, and B. Beaver. Copyright 1999 by Brooks Cole, division of Thompson Learning
Incorporated. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission of the publisher.
Question 4:
This question is based on question 7.20 from page 261 of Introduction to Probability and Statistics, Tenth Edition,
by W. Mendenhall, R. Beaver, and B. Beaver. Copyright 1999 by Brooks Cole, division of Thompson Learning
Incorporated. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission of the publisher.

______________________________
Copyright 2011 Apex Learning Inc. (See Terms of Use at www.apexvs.com/TermsOfUse)