95% confidence interval - median

[lavster]

To calculate the 95% confidence interval of the mean of a normal distribution you calculate 1.96 χ standard error on the mean.
what do you do if you want to calculate the 95% confidence interval on the median of the distribution, for a distribution that is most definitely skewed and not gaussian?
Thanks

 

[Number Nine]

I would bootstrap it.

 

[lavster]

can you do that in excel?

 

[Number Nine]

You'll have to check the documentation. Any worthwhile statistical program will have bootstrapping support; you might want to look at R.

 

[blue_raver22]

for your question. The 95% confidence interval is a measure of the range in which we can be reasonably sure that the true population parameter falls within. In the case of a normal distribution, the 95% confidence interval for the mean is calculated using the formula 1.96 x standard error on the mean. However, for a skewed distribution, the median may be a more appropriate measure of central tendency. To calculate the 95% confidence interval for the median of a skewed distribution, we can use the bootstrap method. This involves repeatedly sampling from the original data set and calculating the median for each sample. The 95% confidence interval can then be determined from the range of these medians. Alternatively, if the sample size is large enough, we can use the central limit theorem to approximate the distribution of the median and calculate the confidence interval using the same formula as for the mean. It is important to consider the shape of the distribution when determining the appropriate measure of central tendency and corresponding confidence interval.