What are confidence intervals and why are they important in research?

What are confidence intervals and why are they important in research?

Confidence intervals are a range of values that estimate the true parameter of a population. They indicate the reliability of an estimate.

How do you calculate a confidence interval?

To calculate a confidence interval, you typically use the formula: CI = ar{x} ± Z * (σ/√n), where ar{x} is the sample mean, Z is the Z-score, σ is the standard deviation, and n is the sample size.

What does a 95% confidence interval mean?

A 95% confidence interval means that if you were to take 100 different samples and compute a confidence interval for each sample, approximately 95 of the intervals would contain the true population parameter.

Can confidence intervals be used in qualitative research?

While confidence intervals are primarily used in quantitative research, they can be adapted for qualitative research to express the uncertainty around qualitative findings.