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Ch. 11 - Goodness-of-Fit and Contingency Tables
Triola - Elementary Statistics 14th Edition
Triola14th EditionElementary StatisticsISBN: 9780137366446Not the one you use?Change textbook
Chapter 11, Problem 11.2.2

Identifying Hypotheses Refer to the data given in Exercise 1 and assume that the requirements are all satisfied and we want to conduct a hypothesis test of independence using the methods of this section. Identify the null and alternative hypotheses.

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Step 1: Understand the context of the problem. A hypothesis test of independence is used to determine whether two categorical variables are independent or associated. Independence means that the occurrence of one variable does not affect the occurrence of the other.
Step 2: Define the null hypothesis (H₀). The null hypothesis in a test of independence states that the two variables are independent. In mathematical terms, this can be expressed as: H₀: P(A ∩ B) = P(A) × P(B), where A and B are the two categorical variables.
Step 3: Define the alternative hypothesis (H₁). The alternative hypothesis states that the two variables are not independent, meaning there is an association between them. In mathematical terms, this can be expressed as: H₁: P(A ∩ B) ≠ P(A) × P(B).
Step 4: Ensure that the requirements for conducting the test are satisfied. These typically include having a sufficiently large sample size and ensuring that the expected frequencies in each cell of the contingency table are at least 5.
Step 5: Prepare to use the chi-square test statistic to evaluate the hypotheses. The test statistic is calculated using the formula: χ² = Σ((O - E)² / E), where O represents the observed frequencies and E represents the expected frequencies under the assumption of independence.

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Key Concepts

Here are the essential concepts you must grasp in order to answer the question correctly.

Null Hypothesis

The null hypothesis (H0) is a statement that indicates no effect or no difference in the context of a statistical test. It serves as a default position that assumes any observed differences in data are due to random chance. In hypothesis testing, the goal is to gather evidence to either reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis based on sample data.
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Step 1: Write Hypotheses

Alternative Hypothesis

The alternative hypothesis (H1 or Ha) is a statement that contradicts the null hypothesis, suggesting that there is an effect or a difference. It represents the researcher's claim or the outcome they are trying to prove. In hypothesis testing, if the evidence is strong enough to reject the null hypothesis, the alternative hypothesis is considered supported.
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Step 1: Write Hypotheses

Hypothesis Test of Independence

A hypothesis test of independence is used to determine whether there is a significant association between two categorical variables. This test evaluates whether the distribution of one variable differs across the levels of another variable. Commonly, the Chi-square test is employed for this purpose, allowing researchers to assess the relationship between the variables based on observed and expected frequencies.
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Step 1: Write Hypotheses
Related Practice
Textbook Question

Questions 6–10 refer to the sample data in the following table, which describes the fate of the passengers and crew aboard the Titanic when it sank on April 15, 1912. Assume that the data are a sample from a large population and we want to use a 0.05 significance level to test the claim that surviving is independent of whether the person is a man, woman, boy, or girl.



Given that the P-value for the hypothesis test is 0.000 when rounded to three decimal places, what do you conclude? What do the results indicate about the rule that women and children should be the first to be saved?

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Textbook Question

In Exercises 5–20, conduct the hypothesis test and provide the test statistic and the P-value and/or critical value, and state the conclusion.


Heights Measured or Reported? Repeat the preceding exercise using the frequencies in the following table, which summarizes all of the 2784 male heights listed in Data Set 4 “Measured and Reported.” Does the larger data set have much of an effect on the results from Exercise 5?

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Textbook Question

In Exercises 5–20, conduct the hypothesis test and provide the test statistic and the P-value and/or critical value, and state the conclusion.


Bias in Clinical Trials? Researchers investigated the issue of race and equality of access to clinical trials. The following table shows the population distribution and the numbers of participants in clinical trials involving lung cancer (based on data from “Participation in Cancer Clinical Trials,” by Murthy, Krumholz, and Gross, Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 291, No. 22). Use a 0.01 significance level to test the claim that the distribution of clinical trial participants fits well with the population distribution. Is there a race/ethnic group that appears to be very underrepresented?


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Textbook Question

In Exercises 5–20, conduct the hypothesis test and provide the test statistic and the P-value and/or critical value, and state the conclusion.


Testing a Slot Machine The author purchased a slot machine (Bally Model 809) and tested it by playing it 1197 times. There are 10 different categories of outcomes, including no win, win jackpot, win with three bells, and so on. When testing the claim that the observed outcomes agree with the expected frequencies, the author obtained a test statistic of x2 = 8.815 Use a 0.05 significance level to test the claim that the actual outcomes agree with the expected frequencies. Does the slot machine appear to be functioning as expected?

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Textbook Question

Does the Treatment Affect Success? The following table lists frequencies of successes and failures for different treatments used for a stress fracture in a foot bone (based on data from “Surgery Unfounded for Tarsal Navicular Stress Fracture,” by Bruce Jancin, Internal Medicine News, Vol. 42, No. 14). Use a 0.05 significance level to test the claim that success of the treatment is independent of the type of treatment. What does the result indicate about the increasing trend to use surgery?



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Textbook Question

Dogs Detecting Malaria The following table lists results from an experiment designed to test the ability of dogs to use their extraordinary sense of smell to detect malaria in samples of children’s socks (based on data presented at an annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine, by principal investigator Steve Lindsay). Assuming that the dog being correct is independent of whether malaria is present, find the expected value for the observed frequency of 123.


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