Question

the computer science department wants to estimate the average length of time it takes students to complete a computer project correct to within 5 hours with probability 0.96. they do not have an estimate of the standard deviation of the times, but they remember that last year the shortest time needed to complete the project was 6 hours and the longest time was 36 hours. given this information, an appropriate estimate of the standard deviation of the length of time required to complete the computer project would be:group of answer choices5 hours4 hours24 hours30 hours

Answer 1

An appropriate estimate of the standard deviation for the length of time to complete a computer project, using the range rule of thumb, would be 7.5 hours.

Step-by-step explanation:

The computer science department wants to estimate the average length of time to complete a computer project with a precision of within 5 hours and a confidence level of 0.96.

Without an existing estimate of the standard deviation, we can use the range rule of thumb for standard deviation, which suggests that the standard deviation (σ) can be approximated as the range divided by 4.

Given that the shortest time is 6 hours and the longest time is 36 hours, the range is 36 - 6 = 30 hours.

Therefore, an appropriate estimate of the standard deviation would be 30 hours / 4 = 7.5 hours.