One Indicator of the Health of Field Mice Is the Length

Essay

One indicator of the health of field mice is the length of their tails. The following
data on tail length (in mm) were gathered from a representative sample of field mice
near Fairfield, Iowa. A biologist would like to construct a 95% confidence interval
for the population mean tail length of the field mice near Fairfield. $$\begin{array}{l}\text { Tail lengths of field mice } ( \mathrm { mm } )\\\begin{array} { | l | l | l | l | l | l | } \hline 56.1 & 59.1 & 59.2 & 59.3 & 59.5 & 59.7 \\\hline 59.7 & 59.8 & 60.0 & 60.1 & 60.2 & 60.3 \\\hline 60.3 & 60.3 & 60.4 & 60.4 & 60.5 & 60.5 \\\hline 60.6 & 60.6 & 60.7 & 60.8 & 60.9 & 61.4 \\\hline\end{array}\end{array}$$ a) Using a graphical display of your choice, display the data in a way that will allow
you to determine whether it would be appropriate to use a t confidence interval to
estimate the population mean.
b) Using the graphical display from part (a), would you advise that constructing a t
confidence interval is appropriate? Explain the basis of your recommendation.