In the context of constructing a confidence interval to estimate the number of people who will visit the rink in December of this year, what is the best prediction for the expected number of visitors?

• A. The lower bound of the $\mathrm{confidence} \mathrm{interval}$ for the number of visitors
• B. The $\mathrm{sample} \mathrm{standard} \mathrm{deviation}$ of visitors from previous Decembers
• C. The $\mathrm{maximum}$ number of visitors observed in any previous December
• D. The $\mathrm{sample} \mathrm{mean}$ number of visitors from previous Decembers

Answer: (D)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand that a confidence interval is constructed around a point estimate to express the uncertainty in estimating a population parameter, such as the expected number of visitors.
2. Recall that the best point estimate for the expected number of visitors is the sample mean, which summarizes the central tendency of past data.
3. Recognize that the lower bound of the confidence interval is just one end of the range and does not represent the best single prediction; it is used to express uncertainty.
4. Note that the sample standard deviation measures variability in the data but is not itself a prediction of the expected number.
5. Understand that the maximum observed value is an extreme and not a reliable estimate of the average or expected number of visitors.