
For the t-distribution, you need to know your degrees of freedom (sample size minus 1).Ĭheck out this set of t tables to find your t-statistic. The t-distribution follows the same shape as the z-distribution, but corrects for small sample sizes. If you are using a small dataset (n ≤ 30) that is approximately normally distributed, use the t-distribution instead. So if you use an alpha value of p 30) that is approximately normally distributed, you can use the z-distribution to find your critical values.įor a z-statistic, some of the most common values are shown in this table: Confidence level Your desired confidence level is usually one minus the alpha ( a ) value you used in your statistical test: For example, if you construct a confidence interval with a 95% confidence level, you are confident that 95 out of 100 times the estimate will fall between the upper and lower values specified by the confidence interval. This is the range of values you expect your estimate to fall between if you redo your test, within a certain level of confidence.Ĭonfidence, in statistics, is another way to describe probability.
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Frequently asked questions about confidence intervalsĪ confidence interval is the mean of your estimate plus and minus the variation in that estimate.Caution when using confidence intervals.Confidence interval for non-normally distributed data.Confidence interval for the mean of normally-distributed data.Calculating a confidence interval: what you need to know.
