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Statistics LibreTexts
stats.libretexts.org › campus bookshelves › rio hondo college › math 130: statistics › 7: confidence intervals
7.2: Confidence Interval for a Proportion - Statistics LibreTexts
September 12, 2021 - Arrow down to Calculate and press ENTER. The confidence interval is (0.564, 0.636). To estimate the proportion of students at a large college who are female, a random sample of \(120\) students is selected.
Discussions

Confidence Interval for Proportion that is 100% - Cross Validated
I am examining differences between groups with two categorical variables. For one category of categorical variable #1 all values are in one category of variable #2. Thus the proportion of category in More on stats.stackexchange.com
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April 21, 2021
[Q] Binomial proportion confidence interval extends above 100%?
Nothing wrong with your calculations, that's just a side effect of using a normal approximation with p close to 1 (or 0) and relatively small N. Consider the Wilson Score Interval , which doesn't have this problem. More on reddit.com
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August 11, 2021
How to generate the confidence interval for difference between control and test proportions? (My boss is adamant his solution is correct but I disagree..)
For users of old reddit: The table and code in the question might not work if you use old reddit (at least for some setups). This might save you some effort: Group | Converted | Did not convert | Control | 30 | 387 | Test | 59 | 465 code under 1: ctrl <- 30/(30 + 387) test <- 59/(59 + 465) sqrt(ctrl*(1-ctrl)/(30 + 387)) # 0.01265354 sqrt(test*(1-test)/(59 + 465)) # 0.01380879 and under 2: calculate the confidence interval of each proportion ctrl +/- 2 * 0.01265354 <-- 2 standard devs gives 95% conf interval test +/- 2 * 0.01380879 On the CI for the difference in proportion: The use of two confidence intervals in Step 3 is not correct. You can form an approximate confidence interval for the difference in proportion by adding the squares of the standard errors of each proportion and taking the square root (giving the s.e. of the difference), and using a z interval based off that. There are other approaches but that should work fine. Since you're using R, you can skip that and just use prop.test which by default gives the same chi-squared value as chisq.test (i.e. it also uses Yates' continuity correction, though doesn't say so in the output), but then it also gives an interval for the difference in proportion: conv<-matrix(c(30,59,387,465),nr=2) rownames(conv)<-c("Control","Test") colnames(conv)<-c("Converted","Did not convert") conv prop.test(conv) The output for the last two lines should look like this: > conv Converted Did not convert Control 30 387 Test 59 465 and > prop.test(conv) 2-sample test for equality of proportions with continuity correction data: conv X-squared = 4.0192, df = 1, p-value = 0.04498 alternative hypothesis: two.sided 95 percent confidence interval: -0.079515385 -0.001790562 sample estimates: prop 1 prop 2 0.07194245 0.11259542 so with those settings, the 95% CI does not overlap 0. You can turn off the continuity correction in the usual way (i.e. just as with chisq.test). More on reddit.com
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September 13, 2023
what method does spss use for confidence intervals proportions?
The algorithms are all spelled out in the Algorithms manual, which you can view or download from here. https://www.ibm.com/docs/SSLVMB_29.0.0/pdf/IBM_SPSS_Statistics_Algorithms.pdf Look at the CTABLES chapter. More on reddit.com
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September 25, 2022
People also ask

What's the difference between a confidence interval for a proportion and a confidence interval for a mean?
Short answer: the idea is the same (point estimate ± margin of error), but the statistic, conditions, and critical value differ. For a proportion you use a one-sample z-interval: p̂ ± z*·SE_p̂ with SE_p̂ = sqrt[p̂(1−p̂)/n]. Conditions: random/independent sample (10% rule if no replacement) and success–failure np̂ ≥ 10 and n(1−p̂) ≥ 10 so the sampling distribution of p̂ is approx. normal. The critical value is z* from the standard normal. For a mean you use a t-interval when σ is unknown: x̄ ± t*·(s/√n). Conditions: random/independent sample (10% rule) and the sampling distribution of x̄ is app
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fiveable.me
fiveable.me › all study guides › ap statistics › unit 6 – proportions study guides › topic: 6.2
Constructing a Confidence Interval for a Population Proportion ...
How do I find the formula for a confidence interval for a population proportion?
You can build the CI formula from the general rule (statistic ± critical value × standard error). For one sample proportion p̂: - Check conditions first: random sample or randomized experiment, n ≤ 0.10N (10% condition) and success–failure: np̂ ≥ 10 and n(1−p̂) ≥ 10 so the sampling distribution of p̂ is approximately normal (CED UNC-4.B). - Standard error: SE(p̂) = sqrt[p̂(1−p̂)/n] (CED UNC-4.C.1). - Margin of error: z* × SE(p̂) where z* is the critical z for your confidence level (CED UNC-4.C.3). - Confidence interval: p̂ ± z* √[p̂(1−p̂)/n] (CED UNC-4.D.1). AP note: interval formulas aren’t o
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fiveable.me
fiveable.me › all study guides › ap statistics › unit 6 – proportions study guides › topic: 6.2
Constructing a Confidence Interval for a Population Proportion ...
What's the difference between the point estimate and the confidence interval for a proportion?
The point estimate for a proportion is just the sample proportion p̂—your best single-number guess of the population proportion p (e.g., 0.42). A confidence interval uses that point estimate plus a margin of error to give a range of plausible values for p: p̂ ± z*·SE, where SE = √[p̂(1−p̂)/n] and z* is the critical z for your confidence level (e.g., 1.96 for 95%). The interval acknowledges sampling variability; the point estimate ignores it. Before you use the one-sample z-interval, check independence (random sample, n ≤ 10% of N) and success–failure (np̂ and n(1−p̂) ≥ 10). On the AP exam you
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fiveable.me
fiveable.me › all study guides › ap statistics › unit 6 – proportions study guides › topic: 6.2
Constructing a Confidence Interval for a Population Proportion ...
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StatsKingdom
statskingdom.com › proportion-confidence-interval-calculator.html
Proportion confidence interval calculator - normal approximation (Wald interval), Clopper–Pearson, Wilson score interval
Confidence level - The certainty level that the true value of the estimated parameter will be in the confidence interval, usually 0.95. Sample size - the number of subjects. Sample proportion (p̂) or #successes: If the value you entered is between 0 and 1 - the calculator assumed that you ...

confidence intervals for binominal distributions

In statistics, a binomial proportion confidence interval is a confidence interval for the probability of success calculated from the outcome of a series of success–failure experiments (Bernoulli trials). In other words, a … Wikipedia
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Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Binomial_proportion_confidence_interval
Binomial proportion confidence interval - Wikipedia
November 13, 2025 - In statistics, a binomial proportion confidence interval is a confidence interval for the probability of success calculated from the outcome of a series of success–failure experiments (Bernoulli trials). In other words, a binomial proportion confidence interval is an interval estimate of ...
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Statology
statology.org › home › confidence interval for a proportion
Confidence Interval for a Proportion
December 2, 2021 - A confidence interval for a proportion is a range of values that is likely to contain a population proportion with a certain level of confidence.
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Pacific Northwest University
pnw.edu › wp-content › uploads › 2020 › 03 › lecturenotes8-10.pdf pdf
4.5 Confidence Intervals for a Proportion
So, 95% confident population parameter p in (0.233, 0.367). ... Length of this CI is L ≈0.356 −0.244 = 0.112. prop1.interval(54,180,0.90) # 1-proportion 90% CI for p
Find elsewhere
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Penn State Statistics
online.stat.psu.edu › stat415 › lesson › 5
Lesson 5: Confidence Intervals for Proportions | STAT 415
On to yet more population parameters! In this lesson, we derive formulas for \((1-\alpha)100\%\) confidence intervals for:
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Pressbooks
ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub › introstats › chapter › 7-4-confidence-intervals-for-a-population-proportion
7.4 Confidence Intervals for a Population Proportion – Introduction to Statistics
September 1, 2022 - We are 95% confident that the proportion of adult residents of this city who have cell phones is between 81% and 87.4%. It is reasonable to conclude that 85% of the adult residents of this city have cell phones because 85% is inside the confidence interval. When calculating the limits for the confidence interval keep all of the decimals in the [latex]z[/latex]-score and other values throughout the calculation.
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Vassarstats
vassarstats.net › prop1.html
Confidence Interval of a Proportion
This unit will calculate the lower and upper limits of the 95% confidence interval for a proportion, according to two methods described by Robert Newcombe, both derived from a procedure outlined by E. B. Wilson in 1927 (references below). The first method uses the Wilson procedure without a ...
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Fiveable
fiveable.me › all study guides › ap statistics › unit 6 – proportions study guides › topic: 6.2
Constructing a Confidence Interval for a Population Proportion - AP Stats Study Guide | Fiveable
August 22, 2025 - To construct a one-sample z-interval ... determine the confidence interval. The confidence interval is calculated as the sample proportion plus or minus a multiple of the standard error of the proportion....
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GraphPad
graphpad.com › quickcalcs › confinterval1
Confidence interval of a proportion or count
Enter the total number of subjects, objects or events as the denominator. For the numerator, enter the number of subjects, objects or events who had the first of the two outcomes. This calculator will compute the proportion that had the first outcome (numerator/denominator) and the 95% confidence interval of that proportion.
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GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › mathematics › confidence-intervals-for-population-mean-and-proportion
Confidence Intervals for Population Mean and Proportion - GeeksforGeeks
July 23, 2025 - Confidence intervals for population mean estimate the range within which the true mean lies, based on sample data. For proportions, they estimate the range within which the true population proportion lies.
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OpenStax
openstax.org › books › introductory-business-statistics-2e › pages › 8-3-a-confidence-interval-for-a-population-proportion
8.3 A Confidence Interval for A Population Proportion - Introductory Business Statistics 2e | OpenStax
December 13, 2023 - Businesses that sell personal computers are interested in the proportion of households in the United States that own personal computers. Confidence intervals can be calculated for the true proportion of stocks that go up or down each week and for the true proportion of households in the United States that own personal computers.
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Fiveable
fiveable.me › all study guides › probability and statistics › unit 9 – confidence intervals & hypothesis testing study guides › topic: 9.2
Confidence intervals for proportions | Probability and Statistics Class Notes | Fiveable
August 22, 2025 - The process of constructing a confidence interval involves determining the margin of error and combining it with the point estimate · The margin of error represents the maximum likely difference between the sample proportion and the population proportion · Calculated as the product of the ...
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Scribbr
scribbr.com › home › understanding confidence intervals | easy examples & formulas
Understanding Confidence Intervals | Easy Examples & Formulas
June 22, 2023 - ˆp = the proportion in your sample (e.g. the proportion of respondents who said they watched any television at all) ... To calculate a confidence interval around the mean of data that is not normally distributed, you have two choices: You can ...
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There are many kinds of confidence intervals for binomial proportions. The Wikipedia article on this topic, discusses some of them.

Some of the kinds of confidence intervals do not work well with data that show sample proportions near $0$ or $1.$ Especially if you have such sample results, you need to avoid types of intervals that give error messages, non-answers, or absurd answers.

Wald intervals. These are 'asymptotic' intervals based on assumptions that are strictly true only as $n$ approaches $\infty$ and so they do not work well for small $n.$ In particular if the sample proportion is near $0$ or $1$ they may have "nonsense" boundaries that lie outside $[0,1].$

For example: if we have $x = 39$ successes in $n = 40$ trials, the point estimate of $p$ is $\hat p = x/n = 39/40 = 0.975$ and the 95% Wald interval is $\hat p \pm 1.96 \sqrt{\frac{\hat p(1-\hat p)}{n}}.$ which computes to $(0.927, 1.023).$ [Computation below in R.] Also, in case $x = n = 40$ you can check that the Wald interval is of zero length, as if to 'guarantee' that $p=1,$ which is inappropriate.

p.est = 39/40
CI = p.est + qnorm(c(.025,.975))*sqrt(p.est*(1-p.est)/40); CI
[1] 0.9266173 1.0233827

Jeffries intervals. These are based on a Bayesian argument that begins with the non-informative prior distribution $\mathsf{Beta}(.5, .5).$ This guarantees that the result, treated as a frequentist confidence interval, can never have endpoints outside the unit interval. [Even though this interval estimate has a Bayesian 'heritage', the Wikipedia article says that it has excellent properties when used as a frequentist CI; this claim matches my own personal experience.]

A 95% Jeffries CI for data $x = n = 40$ uses quantiles $.025$ and $.975$ of the distribution $\mathsf{Beta}(.5+x,\, .5+n-x),$ so that the interval computes to $(0.9395, 0.99999).$

qbeta(c(.025,.975), 40.5, .5) 
[1] 0.9395020 0.9999878

Clopper-Pearson intervals. The R procedure binom.test gives an 'exact' confidence interval. [The interval is called exact because it relies on binomial CDFs, avoiding normal and other approximations. Its somewhat messy formula is shown in the Wikipedia link.]

For $x = 39, n = 40$ the resulting 95% CI amounts to $(0.8684, 0.9994),$ as shown below. For $x = n = 40,$ the 95% CI is $(0.9119, 1.0000),$ essentially a one-sided CI [computation not shown].

binom.test(39,40)$conf.int
[1] 0.8684141 0.9993673
attr(,"conf.level")
[1] 0.95

Note: For about the last 25 years an Agresti-Coull modification of the Wald interval has been recommended. In order to emulate other more accurate kinds of CIs, it artificially appends 2 successes and two failures to the data and then uses the formula for the Wald interval.

In many cases this interval does give more accurate results than the Wald interval. However, for sample proportions at or near $0$ or $1,$ Agresti-Coull intervals can still produce bounds outside of the unit interval.

I mention this style of interval because it is frequently used and I suspect it may be giving the results you show in your answer. Without an actual numerical example, one can only speculate.

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Dummies
dummies.com › article › academics-the-arts › math › statistics › how-to-determine-the-confidence-interval-for-a-population-proportion-169356
How to Determine the Confidence Interval for a Population Proportion | dummies
For example, consider the percentage of people in favor of a four-day work week, the percentage of Republicans who voted in the last election, or the proportion of drivers who don’t wear seat belts. In each of these cases, the object is to estimate a population proportion, p, using a sample proportion, ρ, plus or minus a margin of error. The result is called a confidence interval for the population proportion, p.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/statistics › [q] binomial proportion confidence interval extends above 100%?
r/statistics on Reddit: [Q] Binomial proportion confidence interval extends above 100%?
August 11, 2021 -

Just wondered if this is possible as a result of the calculation, or whether I have done something wrong?

As an example, for one of my calculations, I have 23 events, of which 21 “successes”.

This gives a success probability of 21/23 = 91.3%.

The 95% binomial proportion confidence interval for this gives +/- 11.52%

So the confidence range is [79.78, 102.82]%. Obviously a probability over 100% doesn’t make sense, so do I just need to cap the upper limit at 100%?

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Real-Statistics
real-statistics.com › binomial-and-related-distributions › proportion-distribution › proportion-parameter-confidence-interval
Proportion Parameter Confidence Interval
Introduces the binomial and related distributions (incl. proportion, negative binomial, geometric, hypergeometric, beta, multinomial and Poisson distributions).
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Penn State Statistics
online.stat.psu.edu › stat415 › book › export › html › 813
Lesson 5: Confidence Intervals for Proportions
That's clearly not going to work. What's the logical thing to do? That's right... replace the population proportions (\(p\)) that appear in the endpoints of the interval with sample proportions (\(\hat{p}\)) to get an (approximate) \((1-\alpha)100\%\) confidence interval for \(p\):