An Article Regarding Interracial Dating And Marriage Recentl
An Article Regarding Interracial Dating And Marriage Recently Appea
Read an article published in the Washington Post that examines attitudes towards interracial dating and marriage based on recent survey data. The survey sampled 1,709 adults randomly, with specific groups identified: 315 Latinos, 323 Blacks, 254 Asians, and 779 Whites. The survey assessed the willingness of these groups to welcome individuals of different races into their families, a measure of openness towards interracial relationships.
In particular, among Black respondents, 86% expressed that they would welcome a White person into their families. To analyze this data statistically, we focus on estimating the population proportion of Black adults who would be receptive to a White individual through constructing a 95% confidence interval.
Paper For Above instruction
The problem at hand involves estimating the true proportion of Black adults in the population who would welcome a White person into their family based on sample data. This involves understanding key statistical concepts, proper distribution selection, and interpretative confidence interval construction.
Defining Random Variables
Let X be the number of Black respondents in the sample who indicated they would welcome a White person into their family. The probability P' represents the proportion of Black respondents in the sample who expressed this willingness. Specifically, P' is the sample proportion calculated as the number of favorable responses (X) divided by the total number of Black respondents in the sample (n).
- X: Number of Black individuals in the sample willing to welcome a White person into their family.
- P': The sample proportion of Black respondents willing to welcome a White person, calculated as X/n.
Choosing the Appropriate Distribution
Since the objective is to estimate a population proportion, and the sample size is sufficiently large, the normal approximation to the binomial distribution serves as an appropriate model. When np and n(1-p) are both greater than 5, the sampling distribution of the sample proportion P' can be approximated by a normal distribution, allowing us to construct confidence intervals using the standard normal (z) distribution.
Given n=323 Black respondents and an estimated sample proportion P' = 0.86, we have:
- np = 323 × 0.86 ≈ 278.78 (greater than 5)
- n(1-p)= 323 × 0.14 ≈ 45.22 (greater than 5)
Thus, the normal approximation is justified, and the distribution for the sample proportion is approximately N(p, √[p(1-p)/n]).
Constructing the 95% Confidence Interval
To compute the confidence interval, we first identify the sample proportion P' = 0.86, and the sample size n=323. The standard error (SE) of the sample proportion is:
SE = √[P' × (1 - P') / n] = √[0.86 × 0.14 / 323] ≈ √[0.1204 / 323] ≈ √[0.000373] ≈ 0.0193
At a 95% confidence level, the critical z-value (z*)= 1.96. The margin of error (E) is:
E= z* × SE = 1.96 × 0.0193 ≈ 0.0378
Finally, the confidence interval is calculated as:
[ P' - E , P' + E ] = [ 0.86 - 0.0378 , 0.86 + 0.0378 ] ≈ [ 0.8222, 0.8978 ]
Converting to percentages, we interpret the interval as approximately 82.2% to 89.8%. This means we are 95% confident that between roughly 82.2% and 89.8% of all Black adults in the population would welcome a White person into their families.
Conclusion
Constructing this confidence interval provides valuable insight into the attitudes of Black adults towards interracial relationships. Statistically, there is strong evidence suggesting a high level of acceptance, with most Black adults indicating they would welcome White individuals into their families. Such findings reflect shifting societal norms and increasing openness towards interracial marriage, although the interval also underscores some variation in attitudes individual responses may display.
Understanding these nuances is particularly important for policymakers, social scientists, and those involved in promoting multicultural integration and acceptance.
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