Problem:
A computer simulation can itself be regarded as a sampling process. Suppose that a simulation study is done concerning the time required to complete a research and development project. There is considerable uncertainty in the times required to complete the various pieces of the project, so the overall completion time has considerable variability. Assume that the time to completion has a mean of 28.2 months and a standard deviation of 6.9 months.
a. If the simulation involves 1000 independent trials of the project, find the expected value and standard error of the simulation (sample) mean.
b. Find the expected value and standard error if 4000 trials are submitted.