Chapter 8: Problem 10
A random sample has 49 values. The sample mean is 8.5 and the sample standard deviation is \(1.5 .\) Use a level of significance of 0.01 to conduct a left- tailed test of the claim that the population mean is \(9.2 .\) (a) Check Requirements Is it appropriate to use a Student's \(t\) distribution? Explain. How many degrees of freedom do we use? (b) What are the hypotheses? (c) Compute the \(t\) value of the sample test statistic. (d) Estimate the \(P\) -value for the test. (e) Do we reject or fail to reject \(H_{0} ?\) (f) Interpret the results.
Short Answer
Step by step solution
Check Requirements
State the Hypotheses
Calculate the Test Statistic
Estimate the P-value
Decision Rule
Interpret the Results
Unlock Step-by-Step Solutions & Ace Your Exams!
-
Full Textbook Solutions
Get detailed explanations and key concepts
-
Unlimited Al creation
Al flashcards, explanations, exams and more...
-
Ads-free access
To over 500 millions flashcards
-
Money-back guarantee
We refund you if you fail your exam.
Over 30 million students worldwide already upgrade their learning with 91Ó°ÊÓ!
Key Concepts
These are the key concepts you need to understand to accurately answer the question.
Student's t-distribution
Key features of the t-distribution include:
- The t-distribution is used instead of the normal distribution primarily when dealing with small sample sizes (typically less than 30) or when the population variance is unknown.
- Its shape is similar to the normal distribution but with heavier tails. This means it accounts for the greater variability expected with smaller samples.
- As the sample size increases, the t-distribution approaches the normal distribution (Central Limit Theorem).
- The specific form of the distribution is determined by the 'degrees of freedom' which will be discussed later.
Left-tailed test
In the context of hypothesis testing:
- The null hypothesis (\( H_0 \)) states that there's no effect or difference. For our exercise, it claims the population mean is equal to 9.2.
- The alternative hypothesis (\( H_a \)) suggests that there is a departure from the null hypothesis, in this case, that the population mean is less than 9.2.
- "Left-tailed" refers to the alternative hypothesis suggesting a mean less than the claimed value. Our sample mean being considerably lower (8.5 vs 9.2) justifies this test.
Degrees of freedom
For our sample:
- The formula to calculate degrees of freedom is usually \( n - 1 \), where \( n \) is the sample size. This subtracted 1 accounts for the estimation of the sample mean from the data.
- In our exercise, with a sample of 49, the degrees of freedom are calculated as \( 49 - 1 = 48 \).
- This value is crucial as it determines the shape of the Student's t-distribution used for the hypothesis test.
- In general, more degrees of freedom (i.e., a larger sample size) lead to a t-distribution that closely resembles a normal distribution.
P-value estimation
In our scenario:
- A low P-value (typically ≤ 0.05) indicates strong evidence against the null hypothesis, thus leading us to reject it. For our left-tailed test, the calculated t-statistic was approximately \( -3.26 \).
- Utilizing the degrees of freedom (48) and the test statistic, we can either use a t-distribution table or statistical software to estimate the P-value.
- In this case, the P-value is noted to be less than 0.01, which is the significance level set for our test, showing clear evidence against \( H_0 \).