Homework 13

Due Wednesday, December 4, 11:59pm

You may use R code and output as an option for showing work. It can be copied and pasted
to your electronic file (LaTeX, notewriter, etc.) or copied by handwriting to a pen and paper
submission that you later scan.

Exercise 1
A random sample of 9 adult white rhinos had the sample mean weight of 5,100 pounds and
the sample standard deviation of 450 pounds. A random sample of 16 adult hippos had the
sample mean weight of 3,300 pounds and the sample standard deviation of 400 pounds.
Assume that the two populations are approximately normally distributed.
(a) Suppose you want to construct a 95% confidence interval for the difference between
their overall average weights of adult white rhinos and adult hippos, but not just yet.
For now, calculate the degrees of freedom under each of the three scenarios described
here.
i. The most conservative approach: min(n1, n2) – 1
ii. Welch’s t degrees of freedom: see notes
iii. Pooled variance degrees of freedom: n1 + n2 – 2
iv. If you had your choice, which of the three would you prefer to use?
(b) Is the pooled variance allowable?
(c) Construct a 95% confidence interval for the difference between their overall average
weights of adult white rhinos and adult hippos.
(d) It’s believed that on average an adult white rhino weighs 1,500 pounds more than an
adult hippo. Test this claim against an alternative hypothesis that the average weight
difference is greater than 1,500 pounds at an α = 0.05 level of significance. Use p-value as
evidence.
(e) Revisit parts (c) and (d). If you were to use the 95% confidence interval as evidence for
the test, what decision would you make? Is it the same as the decision in (d)?
Exercise 2
In 2017, ballots in Champaign-Urbana contained the following question to assess public
opinion on an issue: “Should the State of Illinois legalize and regulate the sale and use of
marijuana?” Suppose that we would like to understand the opinion of Champaign-Urbana
residents today.
We obtain a random sample of 80 Champaign voters, of which 55 support marijuana
legalization. We also obtain a random sample of 100 Urbana voters, of which 75 support
marijuana legalization. Let pC be the true proportion of Champaign voters who support
marijuana legalization, and let pU be the true proportion of Urbana voters who support
marijuana legalization.
(a) Calculate a 95% confidence interval for pU – pC.
(b) Calculate the p-value for the test H0: pU = pC versus H1: pU ≠ pC. Using a level of
significance of α = 0.05, make a decision about the null hypothesis and provide a concluding
statement in the context of this situation.

Exercise 3
A behavioral scientist is interested in the effect of caffeine on the typing speed of students.
The scientist obtains a random sample of 8 students who are given 400 mg of caffeine then
given a typing test. They type an average of 51.4 words per minute (wpm), with a sample
standard deviation of 12.3 wpm. He also obtains a random sample of 13 students who are
given a placebo before the typing test. The placebo group types an average of 43.9 wpm,
with a sample standard deviation of 15.1 wpm. Assume typing speeds follow a normal
distribution in both groups.
(a) Construct a 99% confidence interval for μC − μP, the true difference in average typing
speed between the caffeine and placebo groups. (Assume that the two population variances
are equal.)
(b) Construct a 99% confidence interval for μC − μP, the true difference in average typing
speed between the caffeine and placebo groups. (Do not assume that the two population
variances are equal. Use Welch’s T.)
(c) Calculate the value of the test statistic for testing H0: μC = μP versus H1: μC ≠ μP. (Assume
that the two population variances are equal.)
(d) State the critical region for the test in part c, and your statistical decision using α=0.05.
Provide a concluding statement in the context of this situation.
(e) Calculate the p-value for the test in part c. Does a decision based on p-value agree with
your result from part d? Explain.
Exercise 4
A researcher wishes to determine whether the starting salaries of high school math
teachers in private schools are higher than those of high school math teachers in public
schools. She selects a sample of new math teachers from each type of school and calculates
the sample means and sample standard deviations of their salaries.
For private schools, the sample of size 10 yielded a sample mean of $36,800 and sample
standard deviation of $600. For public schools, the sample of size 7 yielded a sample mean
of $36,300 and sample standard deviation of $546. Assume that the populations are
normally distributed and the population variances are equal.
(a) Construct a 95% confidence interval for the difference in average starting salaries of
high-school math teachers in private and public schools.
(b) By the null hypothesis, there would be no difference between the salaries of the two
groups. Test the researcher’s theory that the starting salaries of high-school math teachers
in private schools are higher than those of high-school math teachers in public schools. Use
a 1% level of significance and the critical region method.
(c) Find the p-value of the test in part (b).

Exercise 5
We want to know about the operating costs of a certain model of motor vehicle. In
particular, we will test whether the standard deviation of the operating costs is more than
2.30 cents per mile or not at a 5% significance level. Assume that operating costs are
approximately normally distributed.
(a) Define the parameter of interest as well as the null and alternative hypotheses.
(b) Define the critical region (i.e., the rejection region) for this test.

An examination of the records for a random sample of 16 of these motor vehicles in a large
fleet resulted in the sample mean operating cost of 26.33 cents per mile and the sample
standard deviation of 2.80 cents per mile.
(c) Complete the remaining steps of the hypothesis test by using the critical value method.
Exercise 6
Historically, the employee salaries of a construction company have maintained a constant
standard deviation of $150. Over the past few months, some employees have complained
that the variation of the employees’ monthly salary amounts has risen, suggesting potential
salary inequity. In a random sample of 10 employees, the sample standard deviation of the
monthly salary amounts was $210.
(a) Use α = 0.05 to test H0: σ = 150 vs. H1: σ ≠ 150. Use the critical value method for
evidence.
(b) What is the p-value of the test? (Note that may have to use R to calculate the exact
value.) Do you come to the same conclusion as in part (a)?