Empirical Rule
Instructions
This week’s lab highlights the uses of the normal distribution and the application of the Empirical Rule as well as the Central Limit Theorem.
A data set is described and then you imagine that you are conducting research in that area and some possible results. You determine how those results would be interpreted and used in your field.
Deliverables
The deliverable is a Word document with your answers to the questions posed below based on the information provided and the assumptions you make.
Required Software
- Microsoft Word
Steps to Complete Week 5 Lab
- Iron levels follow a normal distribution, and you can easily use the Empirical Rule with them. Consider iron levels in a population that have a mean of 15.5 gdL and a standard deviation of 1.6 gdL. You are measuring the iron levels in one patient.
- Question 1: Using the Empirical Rule, give an example of an iron level from the patient that would be considered unusual. Describe, using the values from the Empirical Rule, how you determined that this level would be considered unusual.
- Rather than one patient, you are now measuring iron levels from a group of individuals.
- Question 2: Assume a specific sample size of 75. This would be the number of individuals in the group. Using that sample size with a mean of 15.5 gdL and a standard deviation of 1.6gdL determine the range within which the group’s average iron level would be considered usual. Describe how you arrived at that range using the Central Limit Theorem and the Empirical Rule.
- Consider a specific area of interest to you in the health sciences.
- Question 3: Describe 3 variables or measures that would probably follow a normal distribution. Describe why you believe they would follow a normal distribution.
