Central Limit Theorem (1 of 2)

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The central limit theorem states that given a distribution with a mean μ and variance σ², the sampling distribution of the mean approaches a normal distribution with a mean (μ) and a variance σ²/N as N, the sample size, increases. The amazing and counter-intuitive thing about the central limit theorem is that no matter what the shape of the original distribution, the sampling distribution of the mean approaches a normal distribution. Furthermore, for most distributions, a normal distribution is approached very quickly as N increases. Keep in mind that N is the sample size for each mean and not the number of samples. Remember in a sampling distribution the number of samples is assumed to be infinite. The sample size is the number of scores in each sample; it is the number of scores that goes into the computation of each mean.

On the next page are shown the results of a simulation exercise to demonstrate the central limit theorem. The computer sampled N scores from a uniform distribution and computed the mean. This procedure was performed 500 times for each of the sample sizes 1, 4, 7, and 10.