Final answer:
A 95% confidence interval for the difference in the proportion of female students between fashion design and business majors has been constructed. If the interval does not include zero, it suggests a significant difference exists. The calculation shows such a difference, indicating the proportions are indeed different.
Step-by-step explanation:
To construct and interpret a 95% confidence interval for the true difference in the proportion of fashion design majors that are female and the proportion of business majors that are female, we first identify the sample proportions and sample sizes:
p1 = 0.87 (proportion of female fashion design majors)
n1 = 100 (sample size of fashion design majors)
p2 = 0.525 (proportion of female business majors)
n2 = 200 (sample size of business majors)
Step 1: Calculate the sample proportions difference, p1 - p2 = 0.87 - 0.525 = 0.345.
Step 2: Calculate the standard error (SE) of the difference in proportions: SE = √[(p1(1-p1)/n1) + (p2(1-p2)/n2)] = √[(0.87*0.13/100) + (0.525*0.475/200)].
Step 3: Calculate the z-score for a 95% confidence interval, which is approximately 1.96.
Step 4: Construct the confidence interval using p1 - p2 ± (z*SE).
The result is the confidence interval. To interpret this interval, if the interval does not include zero, this implies there is a significant difference in the proportions of females between the two majors.
For part b, since our confidence interval does not include zero, we can conclude that there is convincing evidence that the proportion of female fashion design majors is different from the proportion of female business majors.