Exercises 237

Exercises

Identify, Define, or Explain

Terms and Concepts
statistical hypothesis testing level of significance
significance testing alpha
indirect proof region(s) of rejection
null hypothesis critical region(s)
nondirectional alternative hypothesis critical value(s)
directional alternative hypothesis region of retention
test statistic decision error
z ratio Type I error Type II error
one-sample z test statistically significant
one- versus two-tailed test statistically nonsignificant
exact probability (p value) statistical significance versus importance

Symbols
H0 H1 m0 p a z
za z:05 z:01 mtrue

Questions and Problems

Note: Answers to starred (*) items are presented in Appendix B.

*1. The personnel director of a large corporation determines the keyboarding speeds, on
certain standard materials, of a random sample of secretaries from her company. She
wishes to test the hypothesis that the mean for her population is equal to 50 words per
minute, the national norm for secretaries on these materials. Explain in general terms
the logic and procedures for testing her hypothesis. (Revisit Figure 11.1 as you think
about this problem.)
2. The personnel director in Problem 1 finds her sample results to be highly inconsistent
with the hypothesis that m ¼ 50 words per minute. Does this indicate that something is
wrong with her sample and that she should draw another? (Explain.)
*3. Suppose that the personnel director in Problem 1 wants to know whether the key-
boarding speed of secretaries at her company is different from the national mean of 50.
(a) State H0.
(b) Which form of H1 is appropriate in this instance—directional or nondirectional?
(Explain.)
(c) State H1.
(d) Specify the critical values, z.05 and z.01.
238 Chapter 11 Testing Statistical Hypotheses About m When s Is Known: The One-Sample z Test

*4. Let’s say the personnel director in Problem 1 obtained X ¼ 48 based on a sample of
size 36. Further suppose that s ¼ 10, a ¼ :05, and a two-tailed test is conducted.
(a) Calculate s X .
(b) Calculate z.
(c) What is the probability associated with this test statistic?
(d) What statistical decision does the personnel director make? (Explain.)
(e) What is her substantive conclusion?
*5. Repeat Problems 4a–4e, but with n ¼ 100.
*6. Compare the results from Problem 5 with those of Problem 4. What generalization does
this comparison illustrate regarding the role of n in significance testing? (Explain.)
*7. Consider the generalization from Problem 6. What does this generalization mean for
the distinction between a statistically significant result and an important result?

8. Mrs. Grant wishes to compare the performance of sixth-grade students in her district
with the national norm of 100 on a widely used aptitude test. The results for a random
sample of her sixth graders lead her to retain H0: m ¼ 100 (a ¼ :01) for her population.
She concludes, \My research proves that the average sixth grader in our district falls
right on the national norm of 100." What is your reaction to such a claim?
9. State the critical values for testing H0: m ¼ 500 against H1: m < 500, where
(a) a ¼ :01
(b) a ¼ :05
(c) a ¼ :10

*10. Repeat Problems 9a–9c, but for H1: 6¼ 500. 3

(d) Compare these results with those of Problem 9; explain why the two sets of re-
sults are different.
(e) What does this suggest about which is more likely to give significant results: a two-
tailed test or a one-tailed test (provided the direction specified in H1 is correct)?

*11. Explain in general terms the roles of H0 and H1 in hypothesis testing.

12. Can you make a direct test of, say, H0 6¼ 75? (Explain.)
13. To which hypothesis, H0 or H1, do we restrict the use of the terms retain and reject?
14. Under what conditions is a directional H1 appropriate? (Provide several examples.)

*15. Given: m ¼ 60, s ¼ 12. For each of the following scenarios, report za, the sample z ra-
tio, its p value, and the corresponding statistical decision. (Note: For a one-tailed test,
assume that the sample result is consistent with the form of H1.)
(a) X ¼ 53, n ¼ 25, a ¼ :05 (two-tailed)
(b) X ¼ 62, n ¼ 30, a ¼ :01 (one-tailed)
(c) X ¼ 65, n ¼ 9, a ¼ :05 (two-tailed)
(d) X ¼ 59, n ¼ 1000, a ¼ :05 (two-tailed)
 Exercises 239

(e) X ¼ 54, n ¼ 50, a ¼ :001 (two-tailed)

(f) Why is the 1-point difference in Problem 15d statistically significant, whereas the
5-point difference in Problem 15c is not?
*16. A researcher plans to test H0: m ¼ 3:50. His alternative hypothesis is H1: 6¼ 3:50. Com-
plete the following sentences:
(a) A Type I error is possible only if the population mean is ——— .
(b) A Type II error is possible only if the population mean is ——— .

17. On the basis of her statistical analysis, a researcher retains the hypothesis, H0 : m ¼ 250.
What is the probability that she has committed a Type I error? (Explain.)
18. What is the relationship between the level of significance and the probability of a Type I
error?
*19. Josh wants to be almost certain that he does not commit a Type I error, so he plans to set
a at .00001. What advice would you give Josh?
20. Suppose a researcher wishes to test H0: m ¼ 100 against H1: m > 100 using the .05 level
of significance; however, if she obtains a sample mean far enough below 100 to suggest
that H0 is unreasonable, she will switch her alternative hypothesis to H1: ¼
6 100 (a = .05)
with the same sample data. Assume H0 to be true. What is the probability that this deci-
sion strategy will result in a Type I error? (Hint: Sketch the sampling distribution and
put in the regions of rejection.)