EXAMPLE 1: A survey of 1200 citizens showed that 715 trust the President.

Compute a 95% confidence

interval for the proportion of all citizens who trust the President.

Step 1: Collect and present sample evidence with confidence level criteria

 Confidence level = 95% while α = 0.05

 X = 715; n = 1200

Step 2: Find point estimate of p which is ^p

X 715
 ^p ¿ = =0.595 ≈ 0.60
n 1200
Step 3: Find q^

 q^ ¿ 1− p=1−0.60=0.40

Step 4: Find maximum error of estimate

^p q^ ( 0.60 ) (0.40) 0.24


√ √ n
=
1200
=
√
1200
=√.0002=.0141

Step 5: Find limits

For the LOWER LIMIT

^p q^ ( 0.60 ) ( 0.40 )
 ^p−z α
2 √ n
=0.60−1.96
√ 1200
=.6−1.96 ( .0141 )=.6−.0276=0.5724 /57.24 %

For the UPPER LIMIT

^p q^ ( 0.60 )( 0.40 )
 ^p + z α
2 √ n
=0.60+1.96
√ 1200
=.6+ 1.96 (.0141 ) =.6+.0276=0.6276/62.76 %

Step 6: Describe results

 Thus, with 95% confidence, we can state that the interval from 57.24% to 62.76% contains the
true percentage of all citizens who trust the President

Example 2: In a survey of 458 random households, people take pride in discussing their methods of
environmental protection. 236 manage their trash by separating biodegradables from non-
biodegradables. Use a 95% confidence to estimate the proportion of all households who have good
practices of trash management.

Step 1: Confidence level = 95% while α = 0.05; X = 236; n = 458

X 236
Step 2: ^p ¿ = =0.5 153 ≈ 0.52
n 458
Step 3: q^ ¿ 1− p=1−0.52=0. 48
 ^p q^ ( 0. 52 ) (0. 48) 0.24 96
Step 4:
√ √ n
=
458
=
√
458
=√ .0005=.0 224

Step 5:

For the LOWER LIMIT


^p q^ ( 0. 52 )( 0. 48 )
^p−z α
2 √ n
=0.52−1.96
√ 458
=.52−1.96 ( .0224 )=.52−.0 439=0. 4761/47 . 61%

For the UPPER LIMIT

^p q^ ( 0. 52 )( 0. 48 )
 ^p + z α
2 √ n
=0.52+1.96
√ 458
=.52+1.96 ( .0 224 )=.52+. 0439=0. 5639/56 . 39 %

Step 6: Thus, with 95% confidence, we can state that the interval from 47.61% to 56.39% contains the
true percentage of all households who have good practices of trash management.

Example 3: In graduate teacher college, a survey was conducted to determine the proportion of
students who want to major in Science. If 368 out of 850 students said Yes, with 95% confidence, what
interpretation can we make regarding the probability that all students in the teacher graduate college
want to major in Science?

Step 1: Confidence level = 95% while α = 0.05; X = 368; n = 850

X 368
Step 2: ^p ¿ = =0. 4329 ≈ 0. 43
n 850
Step 3: q^ ¿ 1− p=1−0. 43=0. 57

^p q^ ( 0. 43 ) (0.57) 0.24 51
Step 4:
√ √ n
=
850
=
√
850
=√ .0003=.0 173

Step 5:

For the LOWER LIMIT


^p q^ ( 0. 43 )( 0. 57 )
^p−z α
2 √ n
=0. 43−1.96
√ 850
=. 43−1.96 ( .0173 )=.43−.0 33 9=0. 3961 /39 . 61 %

For the UPPER LIMIT


^p q^ ( 0. 43 )( 0. 57 )
^p + z α
2 √ n
=0. 43+1.96
√ 850
=. 43+ 1.96 (.0 173 ) =. 43+.0 3 39=0. 4 639/4 6 . 39 %
Step 6: Thus, with 95% confidence, we can assert that the interval from 39.61% to 46.39% contains the
true percentage of all graduate students who want to major in Science.\

Interpretation: This means that in repeated construction of confidence intervals, approximately 95% of
all the samples would produce confidence intervals that contain the true population proportion p. This
interpretation may lead to a course of action for school managers like embarking on a science course
campaign, improving the school environment for Science majors, and so on. Interpretations depend on
the importance of the solutions to emerging problems.