population mean probability distribution with standard error in rnorm

Question

In order to get the normal probability distribution of a population mean, do I use the rnorm function and just give it standard error instead of the standard deviation?

# probability distribution of a 
# population mean of 100 with SD of 10, n = 50.

# convert to standard error
se <- 10/(50^.5)

# The rnorm function accepts sd, so I just use the
# se in its place to get the desired distribution
meanDist <- rnorm(1000,mean=100,sd=se)
hist(meanDist)

If you already know the population mean and sd, then just do: rnorm(1000, 100, 10). — Arun
I might have said that wrong, it would be if I had a sample mean and SD, based on 50 samples. I want the distribution of of the population mean. — John

IRTFM IRTFM · Accepted Answer · 2013-03-09T22:41:03

Yes, although the hist results will be displaying a representative sampling of estimates of the mean rather than the distribution of population values.

population mean probability distribution with standard error in rnorm

1 Answers