Is the Probability of Defect for an Item Produced by this Process Exactly 0.15?

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SUMMARY

The probability of defect for an item produced by the specified process is not exactly 0.15, as confirmed by the quality-control engineer's findings. While 15 out of 100 sampled items are defective, leading to a calculated probability of 0.15, this figure is a statistical estimate rather than an exact value. The discussion emphasizes that the true probability is likely to be close to 0.15 but cannot be claimed as precisely equal due to the inherent variability in sampling and the concept of statistical estimation.

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Here's the question:

A quality-control engineer samples 100 items manufactured by a certain process, and finds that 15 of them are defective. True or false:

(a.) The probability that an item produced by this process is defective is 0.15.

(b.) The probability that an item produced by this process id defective is likely to be close to 0.15, but not exactly equal to 0.15.

The book gives the answers False for (a.) and True for (b.).

I understand that since the two events can either be defective or not defective, they are mutually exclusive with equally likely outcomes and therefore:

P(E) = k / N, where k=number of outcomes in event and N=total outcomes

So I calculated that P(defective) = 0.15. Why would it be close but not exactly equal to 0.15?
 
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That's because the engineer's estimate is only a statistic. You can define a standard deviation or variance around that statistic. You can also make the statement "with Z% likelihood, the probability of defect is between 0.15-X and 0.15+X." But you may not claim that "the probability of defect is exactly equal to 0.15."
 

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