Confidence Interval or the lack of it

/in /by

Confidence Interval or the lack of it

It is 1581 Anno Domini. At the Undergraduate School of UMUC, besides Assistant Academic Director of Mathematics and Statistics, I am also the Undergraduate School-appointed CPA, Coffee Pot Attendant. It is a very important office sponsored by the Holy See.

I have taken this job very seriously, because I believe that I am the key to increased productivity at the Undergraduate School. Why, by mid-morning, many of my colleagues act as if they were

It is imperative that I restore productivity via a secret naturally-occurring molecule, caffeine.

In order to see if my secret molecule works, a random sample of ten colleagues who had the coffee before the Dean’s meeting was selected.

I have observed the time, in hours, for those 10 colleagues to stay awake at the extremely long-winded Dean’s meeting as soon as it started. Oh, yes, one fell asleep even before the meeting started!

1.9 0.8 1.1 0.1 -0.1
4.4 5.5 1.6 4.6 3.4

Now, I have to complete a report to the Provost’s Office on the effectiveness of my secret molecule so that UMUC can file for a patent at the United Provinces Patent and Trademark Office as soon as possible. Oh, yes, I am waiting for a handsome reward from the Provost.

But I need the following information:

  • What is a 95% confidence interval for the time my colleagues can stay awake on average for all of my colleagues?
  • Was my secret molecule effective in increasing their attention span, I mean, staying awake? And, please explain…..