Day 07: Statistics for Business Applications

Last Time:
- Chapter 8: The normal distribution and probabilities
  - Probabilities and the area under the curve
  - Calculating a Z-score (standardizing a normal curve. All normals are really the same - just shifted and stretched!)
  - Using the Z table of normal probabilities (p. 235)
Today:
- Collect homework, section 4.3
- More on the normal distribution and probabilities
  - An example: head circumference
  - Some examples (including using the table "backwards")
  - Homework due Thursday (section 8.3)
- Chapter 9: sections 9.1 and 9.2
  - Basic idea: the larger the sample size, the closer to the true mean is the sample mean (hence, the smaller the spread).
  - Recall the dice applet - normal curves arise in the strangest places! (Figure 9.3, p. 273, for example)
  - The sampling distribution of the sample mean
  - Some examples
Next time:
- Finish section 9.2 (problems due Tuesday) - that skewed distributions can give rise to normally distributed sample means
- Start section 9.3

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Updated on 02/04/2003 14:15:40