Question

Suppose you are weighing specimens in the lab and you calculate the mean of the sample to be 23 ounces with a

standard deviation of 4.5 ounces. You then realize that the scale has been improperly set and every weight is 4
ounces too high. Without re-measuring each sample, what should the mean and standard deviation of the
sample be?

Answer 1

The mean of the specimen weights should be corrected to 19 ounces after adjusting for the scale error, while the standard deviation remains unchanged at 4.5 ounces.

Step-by-step explanation:

Since every weight measurement was 4 ounces too high, you should adjust the mean by subtracting 4 ounces from the originally calculated mean. Therefore, the corrected mean should be 23 ounces - 4 ounces = 19 ounces.

However, adjusting the scale does not affect the spread of your measurements; the standard deviation remains the same. Hence, the standard deviation of the sample would still be 4.5 ounces.