DSC 2010

INFERENCES FROM SMALL SAMPLES

When sampling from a normally distributed population with an unknown variance and a
small sample (n < 30), the sampling distribution of the sample statistic is a t-Distribution,
where

x−μ
s
t= √n
Characteristics of t-Distribution

1. It has a mean of zero.

2. It is symmetrical about its mean.

3. In general, the variance > 1, but approaches 1 as the sample size (n) approaches .

4. The t-distribution approaches the normal distribution as n increases.

5. The t-distribution has a lower peak at the center and higher tails than the normal
distribution.

6. -  t
7. The t-distribution is a family, with a different distribution for each degree of
freedom value. (d.f. is the denominator of the sample variance s2)

Small Sample Confidence Interval For μ:

s
x ± (t/2, d.f.) √n d.f. = (n-1)

Small Sample Test of Hypothesis for μ:

1. Statement of the hypotheses.

Two-Tailed Test One-Tailed Test

Ho: μ = μo Ha: μ  μo Ho: μ = μo Ha: μ < μo or Ha: μ > μo
2. Test Statistic
x−μ o
s
t = √n
3. Rejection Region

Two-Tailed Test: t  -tα/2, df or t  tα/2, df

One-Tailed Test: t  tα, df for Ha: μ > μo or t  tα, df for Ha: μ < μo

Small Sample Confidence Interval (μ1-μ2):

2 2
sp sp
X 1− X 2 ± tα/2, df √ ¿ ¿
n1 n2
2 2
( n1 -1 ) s 1 +( n 2 -1 ) s2
where sp2 =
n1 +n 2 -2 d.f. = (n1 + n2 - 2)

Small Sample test of Hypothesis (μ1-μ2):

1. Statement of the Hypotheses

Two-Tailed Test One-Tailed Test

Ho: μ1 - μ2 = Do Ha: μ1 - μ2  Do Ho: μ1-μ2 = Do Ha: μ1-μ2 < Do or Ha: μ1-μ2 > Do

2. Test Statistic

( X 1- X 2)- Do
t = -------------------
2 2
sp s p
√ +
n1 n 2

3. Rejection Region

Two-Tailed Test: t  -tα/2, df or t  tα/2, df

One-Tailed Test: t  tα for Ha: μ1-μ2 > Do or t  -tα for Ha: μ1-μ2 < Do