Illustrating Sampling Distribution of a Statistic: Minitab Revisited

Understanding the concept of the sampling distribution of a statistic is essential for the understanding of inferential procedures. Unfortunately, this topic proves to be a stumbling block for students in introductory statistics classes. In efforts to aid students in their understanding of this concept, alternatives to a lecture-based mode of instruction have been introduced in the literature with some of these approaches using in-class activities, simulations using statistical software, and web-based applets. In this article, the use of statistical software, for the purpose of illustrating sampling distributions, is revisited through the use of Minitab macros, an approach that has not been observed in the literature. The result is a user-friendly way for students in introductory statistics classes to explore the concept of the sampling distribution of a statistic. Although the focus of this article will be on the sampling distribution, the methods described here are applicable to instruction of other statistical concepts. including confidence intervals and power. (Contains 4 figures.)