6.

9 The study of concentrations of atmospheric trace metals in isolated areas of

has received considerable attention because of the concern that humans might
alter the climate of the earth by changing the amount and distribution of trace
the atmosphere. Consider a study at the South Pole, where at 10 different
periods throughout a 2-month period.

the world
somehow
metals in
sampling

10, 000 standard cubic meters (scm) of air were obtained and analyzed for metal
concentrations.
The results associated with magnesium and europium are listed here. (Note: Magnesium
results are in units of 10^-9 g/scm; europium results are in units of 10^-15 g/scm.) Note
that s > for the magnesium data. Would you expect the data to be normally
distributed? Explain.
Tamao de
muestra
10
10

Magnesio
Europio

Promedio de
muestra
1.0
17.0

Desviacin estndar de
muestra
2.21
12.65

6.10 Refer to Exercise 6.9. Could we run a t test comparing the mean metal

concentrations for magnesium and europium? Why or why not?

6.11 PCBs have been in use since 1929, mainly in the electrical industry, but it was
not until the 1960s that they were found to be a major environmental contaminant.
In the paper The ratio DDE to PCB concentrations in Great Lakes herring gull eggs
and its use in interpreting contaminants data [appearing in the Journal of Great
Lakes Research 24 (1):12-31, 1998], researchers report on the following study.
Thirteen study sites from the five Great Lakes were selected. At each site, 9 to 13
herring gull eggs were collected randomly each year for several years. Following
collection, the PCB content was determined. The mean PCB content at each site is
reported in the following table for the year 1982 and 1996.
Site
Yea
r
19
82
19
96

10

11

12

13

61.4
8
13.9
9

64.4
7
18.2
6

45.5
0
11.2
8

59.7
0
10.0
2

58.8
1
21.0
0

75.8
6
17.3
6

71.5
7
28.2
0

38.0
6

30.5
1
12.8
0

39.7
0

29.7
8
12.6
3

66.8
9
16.8
3

63.9
3
22.7
4

7.30

9.41

a) Legislation was passed in the 1970s restricting the production and use of PCBs.
Thus the active input of PCBs from current local sources has been severely

curtailed. Do the data provide evidence that there has been a significant decrease
in the mean PCB content of herring gull eggs?
b) Estimate the size of the decrease in mean PCB content from 1982 to 1996, using
a 95% confidence interval.
c) Evaluate the conditions necessary to validly test hypotheses and construct
confidence intervals using the collected data.
d) Does the independence condition appear to be violated?
6.12 Refer to exercise 6.11. There appears to be a large variation in the mean PCB
content across the 13 sites. How could we reduce the effect of variation in PCB
content due to site differences on the evaluation of the difference in the mean PCB
content between the two years?
6.13 A firm has a generous but rather complicated policy concerning end-of-year
bonuses for its lower-level managerial personnel. The policys key factor is
subjective judgment of contribution to corporate goals. A personnel officer took
samples of 24 female and 36 male managers to see whether there was any
difference in bonuses, expressed as a percentage of yearly salary.
The data are listed here:

Test de T de dos muestras e intervalo de confianza

T de dos muestras para femenino (Female) vs masculino (Male)

Boxplots de bonificaciones femeninos y masculinas

(los medios se indican por crculos slidos)

a) Identify the value of the pooled-variance t statistic (the usual t test based on
the equal variance assumption)
b) Identify the value of the t statistic.
c) Use both statistics to test the research hypothesis of unequal means at = .05
and at = 0.01. Does the conclusion depend on which statistic is used?