Data Analysis and Research Methods

Course Description and Syllabus

The Squares Activity #4 - Part 1, Activity 4

This lesson is adapted from an activity developed by Dr. David Moore, Purdue University

Key Purposes:

1. Students can state the effectiveness of sampling over subjective estimation.
2. Students can illustrate the effect of sample size on the variability on the distribution of sample means.
3. Students can demonstrate the tendency of sampling distributions of the mean to approach normality as sample size increases.

To see a Quick Time Movie of the Squares Activity, Click the above image. File size may be large, please allow enough time for the download.

Description:

The Squares Activity is an activity that involves repeated sampling, with replacement, from a finite, non-normal population. The purpose of the activity is to stress variability in sampling, and to illustrate the concept of a sampling distribution and the reduction in sampling variability as sample size increases. The implications of the Central Limit Theorem are introduced.