Question

Refer to Exercise 7.5 on page 295.

a. Use your answers from Exercise 7.5(b) to determine the mean, ${\mu }_s$, of the variable $\overline{x}$for each of the possible sample sizes.

b. For each of the possible sample sizes, determine the mean, ${\mu }_s$, of the variable $\overline{x}$, using only your answer from Exercise 7.5(a).

Short answer

Part a. The variable $\overline{x}$has a mean value of ${\mu }_{\overline{x}}=2.5$for each of the possible sample sizes.

Part b. The population mean is $\mu =2.5$.

Step-by-step solution

Part (a) Step 1. Given Information 

It is given that the population data is 1,2,3,4.

We need to determine the mean, ${\mu }_s$, of the variable $\overline{x}$for each of the possible sample sizes.

Part (a) Step 2. When the sample size is 1 

For the population data: 1,2,3,4.

The sample and sample mean for a sample of size $n=1$are shown in the table below.

Sample	$\overline{x}$
1	1
2	2
3	3
4	4

The variable $\overline{x}$has the following mean

$$\begin{gathered} {\mu }_{\overline{x}}=\frac{1+2+3+4}{4} \\ {\mu }_{\overline{x}}=\frac{10}{4} \\ {\mu }_{\overline{x}}=2.5 \end{gathered}$$

So when the sample size is 1, the variable $\overline{x}$has a mean ${\mu }_{\overline{x}}=2.5$.

Part (a) Step 3. When the sample size is 2

For the population data: 1,2,3,4.

The sample and sample mean for a sample of size $n=2$are shown in the table below.

Sample	$\overline{x}$
1,2	$\frac{1+2}{2}=1.5$
1,3	$\frac{1+3}{2}=2$
1,4	$\frac{1+4}{2}=2.5$
2,3	$\frac{2+3}{2}=2.5$
2,4	$\frac{2+4}{2}=3$
3,4	$\frac{3+4}{2}=3.5$

The variable $\overline{x}$has the following mean

$$\begin{gathered} {\mu }_{\overline{x}}=\frac{1.5+2+2.5+2.5+3+3.5}{6} \\ {\mu }_{\overline{x}}=\frac{15}{6} \\ {\mu }_{\overline{x}}=2.5 \end{gathered}$$

So when the sample size is 2, the variable $\overline{x}$has a mean ${\mu }_{\overline{x}}=2.5$.

Part (a) Step 4. When the sample size is 3

For the population data: 1,2,3,4.

The sample and sample mean for a sample of size $n=3$are shown in the table below.

Sample	$\overline{x}$
1,2,3	$\frac{1+2+3}{3}=2$
1,2,4	role="math" localid="1652552374094" $\frac{1+2+4}{3}=2.33$
1,3,4	$\frac{1+3+4}{3}=2.67$
2,3,4	$\frac{2+3+4}{3}=3$

The variable $\overline{x}$has the following mean

$$\begin{gathered} {\mu }_{\overline{x}}=\frac{2+2.33+2.67+3}{4} \\ {\mu }_{\overline{x}}=\frac{10}{4} \\ {\mu }_{\overline{x}}=2.5 \end{gathered}$$

So when the sample size is 3, the variable $\overline{x}$has a mean ${\mu }_{\overline{x}}=2.5$.

Part (a) Step 5. When the sample size is 4

For the population data: 1,2,3,4.

The sample and sample mean for a sample of size $n=4$are shown in the table below.

Sample	$\overline{x}$
1,2,3,4	$\frac{1+2+3+4}{4}=2.5$

So when the sample size is 4, the variable $\overline{x}$has a mean ${\mu }_{\overline{x}}=2.5$.

Thus it can be seen that the mean of all potential sample means is the same.

Part (b) Step 1. Find the population mean

For the given population data: 1,2,3,4 the population mean can be given as

$$\begin{gathered} \mu =\frac{1+2+3+4}{4} \\ \mu =\frac{10}{4} \\ \mu =2.5 \end{gathered}$$

So from the results, it can be observed that the population mean is equal to the mean of all potential sample means that is ${\mu }_{\overline{x}}=\mu$.