Fereydoun is doing a research project to determine the propo

Fereydoun is doing a research project to determine the proportion of Rutgers University students who favor capital punishment. If no preliminary sample of students is taken, how large a sample is necessary to be 99% sure that a point estimate will be within a distance of +/-1 percent (E)?

Solution

We use p=0.5 as estimated.

Given a=0.01, Z(0.005) = 2.58 (from standard normal table)

So sample size is

n=(Z/E)^2*p*(1-p)

=(2.58/0.01)^2*0.5*0.5

=16641

Answer: A. 16641