Final answer:
To construct a 99% confidence interval for the student evaluation ratings, calculate the sample mean and standard deviation, determine the critical value, and use the formula. The interval (3.813, 4.440) suggests with 99% confidence the true mean rating for all college students in the state.
Step-by-step explanation:
To construct a confidence interval for the student evaluation ratings, first calculate the sample mean and sample standard deviation. Then, determine the critical value based on the desired confidence level and the sample size. Finally, use the formula: ± (critical value * (sample standard deviation / sqrt(sample size))). For a 99% confidence level, the critical value is approximately 2.617. Using this information, the confidence interval for the population mean of all college students in the state is (3.813, 4.440).
A confidence interval is a range of values that estimates the true value of a population parameter, such as the mean. It provides a measure of uncertainty and quantifies the level of confidence that the true value falls within the interval. In this particular study, the confidence interval suggests that we estimate with 99% confidence that the true mean student evaluation rating for all college students in the state is between 3.813 and 4.440.