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Problem-Solving and Data AnalysisVery hardInterpreting a confidence interval correctly

Problem-Solving and Data Analysis practice question

A random sample of a city's households gives a 95% confidence interval of 2.4 to 2.8 for the mean number of people per household. Which of the following is the most appropriate interpretation?

  1. A. It is plausible that the mean number of people per household in the city is between 2.4 and 2.8.Correct
  2. B. 95% of the city's households have between 2.4 and 2.8 people.
  3. C. Every household in the sample has between 2.4 and 2.8 people.
  4. D. The mean for the city is certainly between 2.4 and 2.8.

Answer: A. It is plausible that the mean number of people per household in the city is between 2.4 and 2.8.

A confidence interval gives a range of plausible values for the population MEAN, with some uncertainty.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. 95% of the city's households have between 2.4 and 2.8 people.
The interval is about the mean, not about individual households (which have whole numbers of people).
C. Every household in the sample has between 2.4 and 2.8 people.
No household has 2.4 people; the interval describes the mean.
D. The mean for the city is certainly between 2.4 and 2.8.
A confidence interval is not a certainty; the true mean can lie outside it.

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