Confidence interval is used to describe the statistical uncertainty associated with parameter estimates and therefore is an important tool for evaluating evidence. For example, let p be the proportion of the population who have disease A (i.e. p is the disease prevalence). If we randomly select N individuals from the population for testing and find that x of them have disease A, then our best estimate of p is x/N. We can use the binomial probability distribution to calculate the 95% confidence interval, which we denote by [L, U].
Please indicate whether each of the following statements is true or false.
a) After you have collected the data and done the calculation (i.e. [L, U] has been numerically evaluated), there is a 0.95 probability that the true prevalence p falls within the range of [L, U].
b) Before you collect the data, there is a 0.95 probability that the true prevalence p falls within the range of [L, U] that you will obtain.