Q.2.1 - The Practice of Statistics for AP

Question

Alcohol abuse has been described by college presidents as the number one problem on campus, and it is an important cause of death in young adults. How common is it? A survey of $10,904$ randomly selected U.S. college students collected information on drinking behavior and alcohol-related problems." The researchers defined "frequent binge drinking" as having five or more drinks in row three or more times in the past two weeks. According to this definition, $2486$ students were classified as frequent binge drinkers.

1. Identify the population and the parameter of interest.

2. Check conditions for constructing a confidence interval for the parameter.

3. Find the critical value for a 99 \% confidence interval. Show your method. Then calculate the interval.

4. Interpret the interval in context. 

Step-by-Step Solution

Answer

Population = U.S college students.

Parameter of interest = Proportion of frequent binge drinkers

Step 1:Given Information

Number of success (x) $=10904$

Number of trials (n) $=2486$

Step 2: Explanation

The population is the set of individuals from which population inferences are made. The population is college students in the United States, and the parameter is the fraction of habitual binge drinkers.