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Ch. 8 - Hypothesis Testing
Triola - Elementary Statistics 14th Edition
Triola14th EditionElementary StatisticsISBN: 9780137366446Not the one you use?Change textbook
Chapter 8, Problem 8.2.14

Testing Claims About Proportions
In Exercises 9–32, test the given claim. Identify the null hypothesis, alternative hypothesis, test statistic, P-value, or critical value(s), then state the conclusion about the null hypothesis, as well as the final conclusion that addresses the original claim. Use the P-value method unless your instructor specifies otherwise. Use the normal distribution as an approximation to the binomial distribution, as described in Part 1 of this section.


Medical Malpractice In a study of 1228 randomly selected medical malpractice lawsuits, it was found that 856 of them were dropped or dismissed (based on data from the Physicians Insurers Association of America). Use a 0.01 significance level to test the claim that most medical malpractice lawsuits are dropped or dismissed. Should this be comforting to physicians?

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Step 1: Define the null hypothesis (H₀) and the alternative hypothesis (H₁). The null hypothesis represents the claim that the proportion of medical malpractice lawsuits that are dropped or dismissed is equal to 0.5 (i.e., not 'most'). The alternative hypothesis represents the claim that the proportion is greater than 0.5 (i.e., 'most'). Mathematically, H₀: p = 0.5 and H₁: p > 0.5.
Step 2: Calculate the sample proportion (p̂). The sample proportion is given by the formula p̂ = x / n, where x is the number of lawsuits dropped or dismissed (856) and n is the total number of lawsuits (1228). Substitute the values into the formula to find p̂.
Step 3: Compute the test statistic (z). Use the formula z = (p̂ - p₀) / √((p₀(1 - p₀)) / n), where p₀ is the hypothesized population proportion (0.5), p̂ is the sample proportion calculated in Step 2, and n is the sample size (1228). Substitute the values into the formula to calculate z.
Step 4: Determine the P-value. Using the z-value from Step 3, find the corresponding P-value from the standard normal distribution table. Since this is a one-tailed test (H₁: p > 0.5), the P-value represents the area to the right of the calculated z-value.
Step 5: Compare the P-value to the significance level (α = 0.01) and make a conclusion. If the P-value is less than or equal to 0.01, reject the null hypothesis (H₀) and conclude that most medical malpractice lawsuits are dropped or dismissed. Otherwise, fail to reject H₀. Finally, interpret the result in the context of the problem and address whether this should be comforting to physicians.

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Key Concepts

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

Hypothesis Testing

Hypothesis testing is a statistical method used to make decisions about a population based on sample data. It involves formulating two competing hypotheses: the null hypothesis (H0), which represents a statement of no effect or no difference, and the alternative hypothesis (H1), which indicates the presence of an effect or difference. The goal is to determine whether there is enough evidence in the sample data to reject the null hypothesis in favor of the alternative.
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Step 1: Write Hypotheses

P-value

The P-value is a measure that helps determine the strength of the evidence against the null hypothesis. It represents the probability of obtaining a test statistic at least as extreme as the one observed, assuming the null hypothesis is true. A smaller P-value indicates stronger evidence against the null hypothesis, and if it is less than the predetermined significance level (e.g., 0.01), the null hypothesis is rejected.
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Step 3: Get P-Value

Significance Level

The significance level, often denoted as alpha (α), is the threshold used to decide whether to reject the null hypothesis. It represents the probability of making a Type I error, which occurs when the null hypothesis is incorrectly rejected. In this case, a significance level of 0.01 means there is a 1% risk of concluding that a claim is true when it is actually false, guiding the decision-making process in hypothesis testing.
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Step 4: State Conclusion Example 4
Related Practice
Textbook Question

Statistical Literacy and Critical Thinking

In Exercises 1–4, use the results from a Hankook Tire Gauge Index survey of a simple random sample of 1020 adults. Among the 1020 respondents, 86% rated themselves as above average drivers. We want to test the claim that more than 3/4 of adults rate themselves as above average drivers.


Requirements Are the requirements of the hypothesis test all satisfied? Explain.

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Textbook Question

Testing Claims About Variation

In Exercises 5–16, test the given claim. Identify the null hypothesis, alternative hypothesis, test statistic, P-value, or critical value(s), then state the conclusion about the null hypothesis, as well as the final conclusion that addresses the original claim. Assume that a simple random sample is selected from a normally distributed population.


Bank Lines The Jefferson Valley Bank once had a separate customer waiting line at each teller window, but it now has a single waiting line that feeds the teller windows as vacancies occur. The standard deviation of customer waiting times with the old multiple-line configuration was 1.8 min. Listed below is a simple random sample of waiting times (minutes) with the single waiting line. Use a 0.05 significance level to test the claim that with a single waiting line, the waiting times have a standard deviation less than 1.8 min. What improvement occurred when banks changed from multiple waiting lines to a single waiting line?


6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 7.1 7.3 7.4 7.7 7.7 7.7

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Textbook Question

Finding Critical Values of (chi)^2 For large numbers of degrees of freedom, we can approximate critical values of as follows:

(chi)^2 = (1/2)(z + sqrt(2k-1))


Here k is the number of degrees of freedom and z is the critical value(s) found from technology or Table A-2. In Exercise 12 “Spoken Words” we have df = 55, so Table A-4 does not list an exact critical value. If we want to approximate a critical value of (chi)^2 in the right-tailed hypothesis test with α = 0.01 and a sample size of 56, we let k =55 with z = 2.33 (or the more accurate value of z = 2.326348 found from technology). Use this approximation to estimate the critical value of for Exercise 12. How close is it to the critical value of (chi)^2 = 82.292 obtained by using Statdisk and Minitab?

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Textbook Question

Testing Claims About Variation

In Exercises 5–16, test the given claim. Identify the null hypothesis, alternative hypothesis, test statistic, P-value, or critical value(s), then state the conclusion about the null hypothesis, as well as the final conclusion that addresses the original claim. Assume that a simple random sample is selected from a normally distributed population.

Pulse Rates of Men A simple random sample of 153 men results in a standard deviation of 11.3 beats per minute (based on Data Set 1 “Body Data” in Appendix B). The normal range of pulse rates of adults is typically given as 60 to 100 beats per minute. If the range rule of thumb is applied to that normal range, the result is a standard deviation of 10 beats per minute. Use the sample results with a 0.05 significance level to test the claim that pulse rates of men have a standard deviation equal to 10 beats per minute; see the accompanying StatCrunch display for this test. What do the results indicate about the effectiveness of using the range rule of thumb with the “normal range” from 60 to 100 beats per minute for estimating in this case?

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Textbook Question

Testing Claims About Proportions

In Exercises 9–32, test the given claim. Identify the null hypothesis, alternative hypothesis, test statistic, P-value, or critical value(s), then state the conclusion about the null hypothesis, as well as the final conclusion that addresses the original claim. Use the P-value method unless your instructor specifies otherwise. Use the normal distribution as an approximation to the binomial distribution, as described in Part 1 of this section.


Online Friends A Pew Research Center poll of 1060 teens aged 13 to 17 showed that 57% of them have made new friends online. Use a 0.01 significance level to test the claim that half of all teens have made new friends online.

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Textbook Question

Identifying H0 and H1

In Exercises 5–8, do the following:


a. Express the original claim in symbolic form.

b. Identify the null and alternative hypotheses.


Landline Phones Claim: Fewer than 10% of homes have only a landline telephone and no wireless phone. Sample data: A survey by the National Center for Health Statistics showed that among 16,113 homes, 5.8% had landline phones without wireless phones.

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