9. Hypothesis Testing for One Sample

Interpreting P-value The Ericsson method is one of several methods claimed to increase the likelihood of a baby girl. In a clinical trial, results could be analyzed with a formal hypothesis test with the alternative hypothesis of p > 0.5 which corresponds to the claim that the method increases the likelihood of having a girl, so that the proportion of girls is greater than 0.5. If you have an interest in establishing the success of the method, which of the following P-values would you prefer as a result in your hypothesis test: 0.999, 0.5, 0.95, 0.05, 0.01, 0.001? Why?

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.

Can Dogs Detect Malaria? A study was conducted to determine whether dogs could detect malaria from socks worn by malaria patients and socks worn by patients without malaria. Among 175 socks worn by malaria patients, the dogs made correct identifications 123 times. Among 145 socks worn by patients without malaria, the dogs made correct identifications 131 times (based on data presented at an annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine, by principal investigator Steve Lindsay). Use a 0.05 significance level to test the claim of no difference between the two rates of correct responses.

c. What do the results suggest about the use of dogs to detect malaria?

Independent Samples Which of the following involve independent samples?

a. Data Set 4 “Measured and Reported” includes measured heights matched with the heights that were reported when the subjects were asked for those values.

Independent Samples Which of the following involve independent samples?

b. Data Set 6 “Births” includes birth weights of a sample of baby boys and a sample of baby girls.

Independent Samples Which of the following involve independent samples?

c. Data Set 1 “Body Data” includes a sample of pulse rates of 147 women and a sample of pulse rates of 153 men.

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.

Number and Proportions

a. Identify the actual number of respondents who rated themselves as above average drivers.

At Least As Extreme A random sample of 860 births in New York State included 426 boys, and that sample is to be used for a test of the common belief that the proportion of male births in the population is equal to 0.512.

b. For random samples of size 860, what sample proportions of male births are at least as extreme as the sample proportion of 426/860?

Discarded Plastic Data Set 42 “Garbage Weight” includes weights (pounds) of discarded plastic from 62 different households. Those 62 weights have a mean of 1.911 pounds and a standard deviation of 1.065 pounds. We want to use a 0.05 level of significance to test the claim that this sample is from a population with a mean less than 2.000 pounds. Identify the null hypothesis and alternative hypothesis.

Discarded Plastic Find the test statistic used for the hypothesis test described in Exercise 1.

Discarded Plastic

What distribution is used for the hypothesis test described in Exercise 1?

For the hypothesis test described in Exercise 1, is it necessary to determine whether the 62 weights appear to be from a population having a normal distribution? Why or why not?

Discarded Plastic The P-value for the hypothesis test described in Exercise 1 is 0.2565.

What should be concluded about the null hypothesis?

What is the final conclusion that addresses the original claim?

Robust Explain what is meant by the statements that the t test for a claim about μ is robust, but the (chi)^2 test for a claim about σ is not robust.

In Exercises 5–16, use the listed paired sample data, and assume that the samples are simple random samples and that the differences have a distribution that is approximately normal.

The Freshman 15 The “Freshman 15” refers to the belief that college students gain 15 lb (or 6.8 kg) during their freshman year. Listed below are weights (kg) of randomly selected male college freshmen (from Data Set 13 “Freshman 15” in Appendix B). The weights were measured in September and later in April.

b. Construct the confidence interval that could be used for the hypothesis test described in part (a). What feature of the confidence interval leads to the same conclusion reached in part (a)?

In Exercises 5–16, use the listed paired sample data, and assume that the samples are simple random samples and that the differences have a distribution that is approximately normal.

Do Men Talk Less than Women? Listed below are word counts of males and females in couple relationships (from Data Set 14 “Word Counts” in Appendix B).

b. Construct the confidence interval that could be used for the hypothesis test described in part (a). What feature of the confidence interval leads to the same conclusion reached in part (a)?