NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
Direct linkDirect link
ERIC Number: EJ1070090
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015
Pages: 7
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1069-1898
EISSN: N/A
Simulations of the Sampling Distribution of the Mean Do Not Necessarily Mislead and Can Facilitate Learning
Lane, David M.
Journal of Statistics Education, v23 n2 2015
Recently Watkins, Bargagliotti, and Franklin (2014) discovered that simulations of the sampling distribution of the mean can mislead students into concluding that the mean of the sampling distribution of the mean depends on sample size. This potential error arises from the fact that the mean of a simulated sampling distribution will tend to be closer to the population mean with large sample sizes than it will with small sample sizes. Although this pattern does not change as a function of the number of samples, the size of the difference between simulated sampling distribution means does and can be made invisible to observers by using a very large number of samples. It is now practical for simulations to use these very large numbers of samples since the speed of computers and even mobile devices is sufficient to simulate a sampling distribution based on 1,000,000 samples in just a few seconds. Research on the effectiveness of sampling distribution simulations is briefly reviewed and it is concluded that they are effective as long as they are used in a pedagogically sound manner.
American Statistical Association. 732 North Washington Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. Tel: 703-684-1221; Tel: 888-231-3473; Fax: 703-684-2037; e-mail: asainfo@amstat.org; Web site: http://www.amstat.org/publications/jse
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Information Analyses; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A