Question

A researcher randomly surveys 36 U.S. adults and asks whether they like pineapple on pizza. Of those surveyed, 27 said they do not like pineapple on pizza and the researcher computes a 95% confidence interval for those who do not like pineapple on pizza. The interval was found to be (.6086, .8915). Briefly explain why this confidence interval is not reliable.

Answer 1

Given confidence interval for the population proportion of the adults who do not like pineapple on pizza is not reliable, because researcher only use sample size of 36 U.S. adults. This sample size is not adequate for drawing conclusions or inferences about the entire population of the U.S. adults. This sample size is very small as compared to the entire adult population of U.S. If this inference is only about the specific small area or village, then it would be reliable. But by using this confidence interval, we could not infer about entire adult population of U.S. So this confidence interval is not reliable.