Review Questions for Quiz 2

DSCI 305

The following description is for questions 1:

A sports writer wished to see if a football filled with helium travels, on average, farther than a football
filled with air. To test this, the writer used 18 adult male volunteers. These volunteers were randomly
divided into two groups of nine subjects each. Group 1 kicked a football filled with helium to the
recommended pressure. Group 2 kicked a football filled with air to the recommended pressure. The
mean yardage for group 1 was 30 yards with a standard deviation of 8 yards. The mean yardage for group
2 was 26 yards with a standard deviation of 6 yards. Assume the two groups of kicks are independent.
Let 1 and 2 represent the mean yardage we would observe for the entire population represented by the
volunteers if all members of this population kicked, respectively, a helium-filled and an air-filled football.
Assume that two sample t-procedures are safe to use and the variances of the two populations are not
equal.

1. Construct a 99% confidence interval for 1  2 (use the conservative estimate for the degrees of
freedom).

2. Suppose the researcher had wished to test the hypotheses H 0 : 1  2  0 , H a : 1  2  0 . Find the
two-sample t statistic.

3. Find the critical value at  = 1% and write the decision rule.

4. Draw a conclusion of the test.

5. Find the P-value using an Excel function (use the conservative estimate for the degrees of freedom).

The following description is for questions 611.

Reconsider the description given above. Now assume the variances of the two populations are equal.

6. Find the pooled estimator for the population variance.

7. Construct a 95% confidence interval for 1  2 .

8. Suppose the researcher had wished to test the hypotheses H 0 : 1  2  0 , H a : 1  2  0 . Find the
two-sample t statistic.

9. Find the critical value at  = 5% and write the decision rule.

10. Draw a conclusion of the test.

11. Find the P-value using an Excel function.

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The following description is for questions 1215:

The marketing manager of a large manufacturer of household batteries wants to decide which of two
equally priced brands to market. To do this, she takes a random sample of 100 batteries of each brand.
The lifetimes, measured in hours, of batteries are recorded. Let 1 and 2 represent the mean lifetimes of
brands 1 and 2, respectively. The results are given in an Excel file “Quiz 2 review questions (DATA).”
Based on the sample standard deviations of the two brands, she decided to assume that the population
variances are not equal.

12. What is the P-value for testing hypotheses: H 0 : 1  2  0 , H a : 1  2  0 ? What is the conclusion
of the test at  = 5%?

13. What is the P-value for testing hypotheses: H 0 : 1  2  0 , H a : 1  2  0 ? What is the conclusion
of the test at  = 5%?

14. Find the point estimate associated with a 95% confidence interval for 1  2 .

15. Find the standard error of x1  x2 .

16. Assume the population variances are equal. Repeat questions 12-15.

The following description is for questions 17 and 19:

WSJ periodically examines the performance of investment managers. A random sample of 200 investment
managers that had graduated from one of the top ten business schools in US were followed over a five-
year period. Fifty of them outperformed the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Let p represent the
probability that a random investment manager who graduated from one of the top ten business schools
will outperform the Dow Jones over a five-year period.

17. Construct a 95% confidence interval for p.

18. Test the hypotheses, H0: p = 0.2, Ha: p > 0.2 at  = 5%.

19. A newspaper conducted a statewide survey concerning the 2000 race for governor. The newspaper took a
random sample (assume it is an SRS) of 1200 registered voters and found that 640 would vote for the
Democratic candidate. Is this evidence that a clear majority of the population would vote for the
Democratic candidate? To answer this, test the hypotheses H0: p = 0.50, Ha: p > 0.50. Find the test
statistic and the P-value of the test.

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The following description is for questions 2023:

In a large university, an SRS of 100 entering freshmen in 1993 found that 20 finished in the bottom third
of their high school class. Admission standards at the university were tightened in 1995. In 1997 an SRS
of 100 entering freshmen found that 10 finished in the bottom third of their high school class. Letting p1
and p2 be the proportion of all entering freshmen in 1993 and 1997, respectively, who graduated in the
bottom third of their high school class. The university wants to know if there is evidence that the
proportion of freshmen who graduated in the bottom third of their high school class in 1997 has been
reduced, as a result of the tougher admission standards adopted in 1995, compared to the proportion in
1993.

20. What are the null and alternative hypotheses?

21. Find the critical value at  = 10% and the decision rule.

22. Find the z statistic and the P-value of the test. What is your conclusion?

23. Construct a 90% confidence interval for p1  p2.