When small samples are used to estimate a population mean, in cases where the population standard deviation is unknown:
A) the t-distribution must be used to obtain the critical value.
B) the resulting margin of error for a confidence interval estimate will tend to be fairly small.
C) there will be a large amount of sampling error.
D) None of the above

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

When small samples are used to estimate a population mean and the population standard deviation is unknown, the t-distribution is used instead of the normal distribution to account for the additional uncertainty introduced by estimating the population standard deviation with the sample standard deviation. This approach helps to maintain the desired confidence level despite the small sample size.

When Small Samples Are Used to Estimate a Population Mean