Math Problem Statement
A random sample of 133 married or de facto couples in the Sydney region has been selected to study non-verbal communication. An experiment was conducted requiring the subject to guess words shown to the partner, without any verbal communication. Some of the variables recorded for each couple are listed below. Variable Description subid Subject ID sex sex of guesser years the length of the relationship (in years) percentage the percentage of correct guesses Address the following questions, assuming as necessary that all test assumptions are verified. Part 1 A test is run to answer the research question, ’Is there any difference between women and men in the average relationship length?’ Which test is correct to use, if we do not know the population standard deviation? Answer 1 Question 1 What is the null hypothesis? Answer 2 Question 1 The p-value of the test is 0.65. What is the decision of the test? Answer 3 Question 1 Part 2 A test is run to answer the research question, ’Is the average relationship length equal to 38?’ Which test is correct to use, if we know the population standard deviation? Answer 4 Question 1 The test statistic is -1.24. This means that the difference between the sample mean and the possible population mean, as stated in the null hypothesis (i.e. 38), is: Answer 5 Question 1 The p-value of the test is 0.216. What is the decision of the test?
Solution
Part 1
Research Question: Is there any difference between women and men in the average relationship length?
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Which test is correct to use, if we do not know the population standard deviation?
Since the population standard deviation is unknown, and we are comparing the means of two independent groups (men and women), the correct test to use is the two-sample t-test (independent t-test). -
What is the null hypothesis?
The null hypothesis () states that there is no difference between the average relationship lengths of men and women. Formally:
where and are the population means for women and men, respectively. -
The p-value of the test is 0.65. What is the decision of the test?
The p-value of 0.65 is greater than any typical significance level (e.g., ). Therefore, we fail to reject the null hypothesis. This means there is insufficient evidence to suggest a difference between the average relationship lengths of men and women.
Part 2
Research Question: Is the average relationship length equal to 38?
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Which test is correct to use, if we know the population standard deviation?
When the population standard deviation is known and we are testing a hypothesis about the population mean, the correct test to use is the one-sample z-test. -
The test statistic is -1.24. What does this mean?
A test statistic of indicates that the sample mean is 1.24 standard deviations below the hypothesized population mean of 38 years. In other words, the difference between the sample mean and 38 years is relatively small (about 1.24 standard errors away from the hypothesized mean). -
The p-value of the test is 0.216. What is the decision of the test?
Since the p-value of 0.216 is greater than , we fail to reject the null hypothesis. This means there is insufficient evidence to conclude that the average relationship length is different from 38 years.
Do you need further clarification or details?
Here are five related questions for further exploration:
- How is the two-sample t-test different from a paired t-test?
- What factors affect the power of a hypothesis test?
- How is the p-value interpreted in hypothesis testing?
- Why is it important to verify test assumptions before running a hypothesis test?
- What are Type I and Type II errors in hypothesis testing?
Tip: Always check the assumptions of normality and equal variances when using the t-test for comparing means.
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Math Problem Analysis
Mathematical Concepts
Hypothesis Testing
Two-sample t-test
One-sample z-test
Formulas
t-test formula: t = (X̄1 - X̄2) / sqrt[(s1^2/n1) + (s2^2/n2)]
z-test formula: z = (X̄ - μ) / (σ/√n)
Theorems
Central Limit Theorem
Law of Large Numbers
Suitable Grade Level
Undergraduate
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