Skip to ContentGo to accessibility pageKeyboard shortcuts menu
OpenStax Logo
Statistics

8.3 A Population Proportion

Statistics8.3 A Population Proportion

Menu
Table of contents
  1. Preface
  2. 1 Sampling and Data
    1. Introduction
    2. 1.1 Definitions of Statistics, Probability, and Key Terms
    3. 1.2 Data, Sampling, and Variation in Data and Sampling
    4. 1.3 Frequency, Frequency Tables, and Levels of Measurement
    5. 1.4 Experimental Design and Ethics
    6. 1.5 Data Collection Experiment
    7. 1.6 Sampling Experiment
    8. Key Terms
    9. Chapter Review
    10. Practice
    11. Homework
    12. Bringing It Together: Homework
    13. References
    14. Solutions
  3. 2 Descriptive Statistics
    1. Introduction
    2. 2.1 Stem-and-Leaf Graphs (Stemplots), Line Graphs, and Bar Graphs
    3. 2.2 Histograms, Frequency Polygons, and Time Series Graphs
    4. 2.3 Measures of the Location of the Data
    5. 2.4 Box Plots
    6. 2.5 Measures of the Center of the Data
    7. 2.6 Skewness and the Mean, Median, and Mode
    8. 2.7 Measures of the Spread of the Data
    9. 2.8 Descriptive Statistics
    10. Key Terms
    11. Chapter Review
    12. Formula Review
    13. Practice
    14. Homework
    15. Bringing It Together: Homework
    16. References
    17. Solutions
  4. 3 Probability Topics
    1. Introduction
    2. 3.1 Terminology
    3. 3.2 Independent and Mutually Exclusive Events
    4. 3.3 Two Basic Rules of Probability
    5. 3.4 Contingency Tables
    6. 3.5 Tree and Venn Diagrams
    7. 3.6 Probability Topics
    8. Key Terms
    9. Chapter Review
    10. Formula Review
    11. Practice
    12. Bringing It Together: Practice
    13. Homework
    14. Bringing It Together: Homework
    15. References
    16. Solutions
  5. 4 Discrete Random Variables
    1. Introduction
    2. 4.1 Probability Distribution Function (PDF) for a Discrete Random Variable
    3. 4.2 Mean or Expected Value and Standard Deviation
    4. 4.3 Binomial Distribution (Optional)
    5. 4.4 Geometric Distribution (Optional)
    6. 4.5 Hypergeometric Distribution (Optional)
    7. 4.6 Poisson Distribution (Optional)
    8. 4.7 Discrete Distribution (Playing Card Experiment)
    9. 4.8 Discrete Distribution (Lucky Dice Experiment)
    10. Key Terms
    11. Chapter Review
    12. Formula Review
    13. Practice
    14. Homework
    15. References
    16. Solutions
  6. 5 Continuous Random Variables
    1. Introduction
    2. 5.1 Continuous Probability Functions
    3. 5.2 The Uniform Distribution
    4. 5.3 The Exponential Distribution (Optional)
    5. 5.4 Continuous Distribution
    6. Key Terms
    7. Chapter Review
    8. Formula Review
    9. Practice
    10. Homework
    11. References
    12. Solutions
  7. 6 The Normal Distribution
    1. Introduction
    2. 6.1 The Standard Normal Distribution
    3. 6.2 Using the Normal Distribution
    4. 6.3 Normal Distribution—Lap Times
    5. 6.4 Normal Distribution—Pinkie Length
    6. Key Terms
    7. Chapter Review
    8. Formula Review
    9. Practice
    10. Homework
    11. References
    12. Solutions
  8. 7 The Central Limit Theorem
    1. Introduction
    2. 7.1 The Central Limit Theorem for Sample Means (Averages)
    3. 7.2 The Central Limit Theorem for Sums (Optional)
    4. 7.3 Using the Central Limit Theorem
    5. 7.4 Central Limit Theorem (Pocket Change)
    6. 7.5 Central Limit Theorem (Cookie Recipes)
    7. Key Terms
    8. Chapter Review
    9. Formula Review
    10. Practice
    11. Homework
    12. References
    13. Solutions
  9. 8 Confidence Intervals
    1. Introduction
    2. 8.1 A Single Population Mean Using the Normal Distribution
    3. 8.2 A Single Population Mean Using the Student's t-Distribution
    4. 8.3 A Population Proportion
    5. 8.4 Confidence Interval (Home Costs)
    6. 8.5 Confidence Interval (Place of Birth)
    7. 8.6 Confidence Interval (Women's Heights)
    8. Key Terms
    9. Chapter Review
    10. Formula Review
    11. Practice
    12. Homework
    13. References
    14. Solutions
  10. 9 Hypothesis Testing with One Sample
    1. Introduction
    2. 9.1 Null and Alternative Hypotheses
    3. 9.2 Outcomes and the Type I and Type II Errors
    4. 9.3 Distribution Needed for Hypothesis Testing
    5. 9.4 Rare Events, the Sample, and the Decision and Conclusion
    6. 9.5 Additional Information and Full Hypothesis Test Examples
    7. 9.6 Hypothesis Testing of a Single Mean and Single Proportion
    8. Key Terms
    9. Chapter Review
    10. Formula Review
    11. Practice
    12. Homework
    13. References
    14. Solutions
  11. 10 Hypothesis Testing with Two Samples
    1. Introduction
    2. 10.1 Two Population Means with Unknown Standard Deviations
    3. 10.2 Two Population Means with Known Standard Deviations
    4. 10.3 Comparing Two Independent Population Proportions
    5. 10.4 Matched or Paired Samples (Optional)
    6. 10.5 Hypothesis Testing for Two Means and Two Proportions
    7. Key Terms
    8. Chapter Review
    9. Formula Review
    10. Practice
    11. Homework
    12. Bringing It Together: Homework
    13. References
    14. Solutions
  12. 11 The Chi-Square Distribution
    1. Introduction
    2. 11.1 Facts About the Chi-Square Distribution
    3. 11.2 Goodness-of-Fit Test
    4. 11.3 Test of Independence
    5. 11.4 Test for Homogeneity
    6. 11.5 Comparison of the Chi-Square Tests
    7. 11.6 Test of a Single Variance
    8. 11.7 Lab 1: Chi-Square Goodness-of-Fit
    9. 11.8 Lab 2: Chi-Square Test of Independence
    10. Key Terms
    11. Chapter Review
    12. Formula Review
    13. Practice
    14. Homework
    15. Bringing It Together: Homework
    16. References
    17. Solutions
  13. 12 Linear Regression and Correlation
    1. Introduction
    2. 12.1 Linear Equations
    3. 12.2 The Regression Equation
    4. 12.3 Testing the Significance of the Correlation Coefficient (Optional)
    5. 12.4 Prediction (Optional)
    6. 12.5 Outliers
    7. 12.6 Regression (Distance from School) (Optional)
    8. 12.7 Regression (Textbook Cost) (Optional)
    9. 12.8 Regression (Fuel Efficiency) (Optional)
    10. Key Terms
    11. Chapter Review
    12. Formula Review
    13. Practice
    14. Homework
    15. Bringing It Together: Homework
    16. References
    17. Solutions
  14. 13 F Distribution and One-way Anova
    1. Introduction
    2. 13.1 One-Way ANOVA
    3. 13.2 The F Distribution and the F Ratio
    4. 13.3 Facts About the F Distribution
    5. 13.4 Test of Two Variances
    6. 13.5 Lab: One-Way ANOVA
    7. Key Terms
    8. Chapter Review
    9. Formula Review
    10. Practice
    11. Homework
    12. References
    13. Solutions
  15. A | Appendix A Review Exercises (Ch 3–13)
  16. B | Appendix B Practice Tests (1–4) and Final Exams
  17. C | Data Sets
  18. D | Group and Partner Projects
  19. E | Solution Sheets
  20. F | Mathematical Phrases, Symbols, and Formulas
  21. G | Notes for the TI-83, 83+, 84, 84+ Calculators
  22. H | Tables
  23. Index

During an election year, we see articles in the newspaper that state confidence intervals in terms of proportions or percentages. For example, a poll for a particular candidate running for president might show that the candidate has 40 percent of the vote within 3 percentage points (if the sample is large enough). Often, election polls are calculated with 95 percent confidence, so the pollsters would be 95 percent confident that the true proportion of voters who favored the candidate would be between 0.37 and 0.43 (0.40 – 0.03, 0.40 + 0.03).

Investors in the stock market are interested in the true proportion of stocks that go up and down each week. Businesses that sell personal computers are interested in the proportion of households in the United States that own personal computers. Confidence intervals can be calculated for the true proportion of stocks that go up or down each week and for the true proportion of households in the United States that own personal computers.

The procedure to find the confidence interval, the sample size, the error bound for a population (EBP), and the confidence level for a proportion is similar to that for the population mean, but the formulas are different.

How do you know you are dealing with a proportion problem? First, the data that you are collecting is categorical, consisting of two categories: Success or Failure, Yes or No. Examples of situations where you are the following trying to estimate the true population proportion are the following: What proportion of the population smoke? What proportion of the population will vote for candidate A? What proportion of the population has a college-level education?

The distribution of the sample proportions (based on samples of size n) is denoted by P′ (read “P prime”).

The central limit theorem for proportions asserts that the sample proportion distribution P′ follows a normal distribution with mean value p, and standard deviation pq n pq n , where p is the population proportion and q = 1 -– p.

The confidence interval has the form (p′EBP, p′ + EBP). EBP is error bound for the proportion.

p  =  x n p  =  x n

p′ = the estimated proportion of successes (p′ is a point estimate for p, the true proportion.)

x = the number of successes

n = the size of the sample

The error bound for a proportion is

EBP=( z α 2 )( p q n ), EBP=( z α 2 )( p q n ), where q′ = 1 – p′.

This formula is similar to the error bound formula for a mean, except that the "appropriate standard deviation" is different. For a mean, when the population standard deviation is known, the appropriate standard deviation that we use is σ n σ n . For a proportion, the appropriate standard deviation is p q n p q n .

However, in the error bound formula, we use p q n p q n as the standard deviation, instead of p q n p q n .

In the error bound formula, the sample proportions p′ and q′, are estimates of the unknown population proportions p and q. The estimated proportions p′ and q′ are used because p and q are not known. The sample proportions p′ and q′ are calculated from the data: p′ is the estimated proportion of successes, and q′ is the estimated proportion of failures.

The confidence interval can be used only if the number of successes np′ and the number of failures nq′ are both greater than five.

That is, in order to use the formula for confidence intervals for proportions, you need to verify that both n p ' 5 n p ' 5 and n q ' 5 n q ' 5 .

Example 8.10

Problem

Suppose that a market research firm is hired to estimate the percentage of adults living in a large city who have cell phones. Five hundred randomly selected adult residents in this city are surveyed to determine whether they have cell phones. Of the 500 people surveyed, 421 responded yes, they own cell phones. Using a 95 percent confidence level, compute a confidence interval estimate for the true proportion of adult residents of this city who have cell phones.

Try It 8.10

Suppose 250 randomly selected people are surveyed to determine whether they own tablets. Of the 250 surveyed, 98 reported owning tablets. Using a 95 percent confidence level, compute a confidence interval estimate for the true proportion of people who own tablets.

Example 8.11

Problem

For a class project, a political science student at a large university wants to estimate the percentage of students who are registered voters. He surveys 500 students and finds that 300 are registered voters. Compute a 90 percent confidence interval for the true percentage of students who are registered voters, and interpret the confidence interval.

Try It 8.11

A student polls her school to determine whether students in the school district are for or against the new legislation regarding school uniforms. She surveys 600 students and finds that 480 are against the new legislation.

a. Compute a 90 percent confidence interval for the true percentage of students who are against the new legislation, and interpret the confidence interval.

b. In a sample of 300 students, 68 percent said they own an iPod and a smartphone. Compute a 97 percent confidence interval for the true percentage of students who own an iPod and a smartphone.

Plus-Four Confidence Interval for p

There is a certain amount of error introduced into the process of calculating a confidence interval for a proportion. Because we do not know the true proportion for the population, we are forced to use point estimates to calculate the appropriate standard deviation of the sampling distribution. Studies have shown that the resulting estimation of the standard deviation can be flawed.

Fortunately, there is a simple adjustment that allows us to produce more accurate confidence intervals: We simply pretend that we have four additional observations. Two of these observations are successes, and two are failures. The new sample size, then, is n + 4, and the new count of successes is x + 2.

Computer studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of the plus-four confidence interval for p method. It should be used when the confidence level desired is at least 90 percent and the sample size is at least ten.

Example 8.12

Problem

A random sample of 25 statistics students was asked: “Have you used a product in the past week?” Six students reported using the product within the past week. Use the plus-four method to find a 95 percent confidence interval for the true proportion of statistics students who use the product weekly.

Try It 8.12

Out of a random sample of 65 freshmen at State University, 31 students have declared their majors. Use the plus-four method to find a 96 percent confidence interval for the true proportion of freshmen at State University who have declared their majors.

Example 8.13

Problem

A group of researchers recently conducted a study analyzing the privacy management habits of teen internet users. In a group of 50 teens, 13 reported having more than 500 friends on a social media site. Use the plus four method to find a 90 percent confidence interval for the true proportion of teens who would report having more than 500 online friends.

Try It 8.13

The research group referenced in Example 8.13 talked to teens in smaller focus groups but also interviewed additional teens over the phone. When the study was complete, 588 teens had answered the question about their social media site friends, with 159 saying that they have more than 500 friends. Use the plus-four method to find a 90 percent confidence interval for the true proportion of teens who would report having more than 500 online friends based on this larger sample. Compare the results to those in Example 8.13.

Calculating the Sample Size n

If researchers desire a specific margin of error, then they can use the error bound formula to calculate the required sample size.

The margin of error formula for a population proportion is

  • EBP= z α 2 × pq n EBP= z α 2 × pq n , where p′ is the sample proportion, q′ = 1 – p′, and n is the sample size.
  • Solving for n gives you an equation for the sample size.
  • n= ( z α 2 ) 2 ( p q ) EB P 2 n= ( z α 2 ) 2 ( p q ) EB P 2 . This formula tells us that we can compute the sample size n required for a confidence level of Cl=1α Cl=1α by taking the square of the critical value z a 2 z a 2 , multiplying by the point estimate p′, and by q′ = 1 – p′ and finally dividing the result by the square of the margin of error. Always remember to round up the value of n.

Example 8.14

Problem

Suppose a mobile phone company wants to determine the current percentage of customers ages 50+ who use text messaging on their cell phones. How many customers ages 50+ should the company survey in order to be 90 percent confident that the estimated (sample) proportion is within 3 percentage points of the true population proportion of customers ages 50+ who use text messaging on their cell phones? Assume that p′ = 0.5.

Try It 8.14

An internet marketing company wants to determine the current percentage of customers who click on ads on their smartphones. How many customers should the company survey in order to be 90 percent confident that the estimated proportion is within 5 percentage points of the true population proportion of customers who click on ads on their smartphones? Assume that the sample proportion p′ is 0.50.

Order a print copy

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Citation/Attribution

Want to cite, share, or modify this book? This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution License and you must attribute Texas Education Agency (TEA). The original material is available at: https://www.texasgateway.org/book/tea-statistics . Changes were made to the original material, including updates to art, structure, and other content updates.

Attribution information
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a print format, then you must include on every physical page the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/statistics/pages/1-introduction
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a digital format, then you must include on every digital page view the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/statistics/pages/1-introduction
Citation information

© Jan 18, 2023 Texas Education Agency (TEA). The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.