Unit 7: Inference for Quantitative Data:

Means
Multiple Choice Practice Problems

______ 1) You are testing a null hypothesis 𝐻0 : 𝜇 = 13 against an alternative 𝐻𝐴 : 𝜇 < 13. What
type of error would be committed if the mean is actually 13, but you concluded that the mean is
smaller than 13?

(A) Type I error

(B) Type II error
(C) Alpha error
(D) No error was committed.
(E) Not enough information to answer.

______ 2) In a test of 𝐻0 : 𝜇 = 30 against 𝐻𝑎 : 𝜇 ≠ 30, a sample of size 15 produces a sample

mean of 32.1 and a p-value of 0.075. Which of the following is true at the 0.05 level of
significance?

(A) There is sufficient evidence to conclude that 𝜇 ≠ 30

(B) There is sufficient evidence to conclude that 𝜇 = 30
(C) There is insufficient evidence to conclude that 𝜇 = 30
(D) There is insufficient evidence to conclude that 𝜇 ≠ 30
(E) There is sufficient evidence to conclude that 𝜇 > 30

______ 3) Enterprise claims that the average price of renting one of their cars is $35 per day.
You believe that this cost is higher in your area, so you take a random sample of cars and find
that the sample has an average cost of 𝑥̅ = 38.2. To test the claim made by Enterprise, what
would be your null hypothesis?

(A) 𝐻0 : 𝜇 > 35
(B) 𝐻0 : 𝜇 ≠ 35
(C) 𝐻0 : 𝜇 = 35
(D) 𝐻0 : 𝑥̅ > 38.2
(E) 𝐻0 : 𝑥̅ = 38.2
______ 4) You want to estimate a population mean with a 92% confidence interval. Assuming
the population standard deviation is 95, if you want the margin of error to be no larger than 10,
which of the following is the smallest sample size we could use to obtain these results?

(A) 16
(B) 17
(C) 180
(D) 276
(E) 277

______ 5) You want to compute a 90% confidence interval for the mean of a population with
unknown population standard deviation. The sample size is 30. The value of t* you would use
for this interval is

(A) 1.645
(B) 1.699
(C) 1.697
(D) 1.96
(E) 2.045

______ 6) A two sample t test of the hypothesis H0: μ1 = μ2 vs HA: μ1  μ2 has a p-value of
0.035. Which of the following must be true?

I. A 99% confidence interval for the difference will contain 0.

II. A 95% confidence interval for the difference will contain 0.
III. A 90% confidence interval for the difference will contain 0.

(A) I only
(B) I and II only
(C) II and III only
(D) III only
(E) I, II, and III
______ 7) There are two large Amazon distribution centers in an area. Center A claims that the
workers at Center B get paid more, on average. To determine this, a simple random sample was
taken from each of the centers, and the salary of the workers was recorded and the average salary
was calculated. Their data are summarized in the table below.

Center A Center B
n 25 20
S $1,989 $2,038
𝑥̅ $53,230 $54,845

Assuming that all conditions for inference are met, which of the following statements is true?

(A) There is convincing evidence at the 5% significance level but not at the 1% significance
level, that Center B's employees are getting paid more than Center A's employees.
(B) There is convincing evidence at the 5% and the 1% significance level that Center B's
employees are getting paid more than Center A's employees.
(C) There is convincing evidence at the 5% significance level but not at the 1% significance level
that Center A's employees are getting different salaries than Center B's employees.
(D) There is convincing evidence at the 5% and the 1% significance level that Center A's
employees are getting different salaries than Center B's employees.
(E) There is not convincing evidence at either the 5% or 1% significance levels that Center A's
employees are getting different salaries than Center B's employees.

______ 8) In a one-sided hypothesis test for the mean, for a random sample of size 15, the t-
statistic of the sample mean is 2.615. Is this significant at the 5% level? At the 1% level?

(A) Significant at the 1% level but not at the 5% level

(B) Significant at the 5% level but not at the 1% level
(C) Significant at both the 1% and 5% levels
(D) Significant at neither the 1% nor 5% levels
(E) Cannot be determined from the information given
______ 9) At a local high school, it is tradition for the boys on the swim and dive team to shave
their head right before their sectional tournament. The reason for this, is the belief that hair on
the body will slow a swimmer down. Mrs. Smith would like to test this theory, so she sets up an
experiment. Each member of the 8 member team will swim the 200 meter freestyle before they
shave their head. Then, after their head is shaved, they will swim it again. Their time before and
their time after is recorded in seconds. The data is shown in the table below

Swimmer August Ben Charlie Damien Elliot Fin Giovanni Henry

Time Before 149.6 148.7 124.6 135.7 132.1 142.7 121.8 130.2
Time After 147.2 148.6 125.0 130.2 130.3 142.1 119.4 130.5

Let μB represent the population mean of swim times before the boys shave their heads and μA
represent the population mean of swim times after the boys shave their heads. μD will represent
the mean of the difference (time before – time after). Which of the following would be the most
appropriate test and alternative hypothesis to test the theory that shaving your head will make
you swim faster?

(A) Two Sample T Test with HA: μB > μA

(B) Two Sample T Test with HA: μB ≠ μA
(C) Two Sample T Test with HA: μB < μA
(D) Paired T Test with HA: μD > 0
(E) Paired T Test with HA: μD < 0

______ 10) When going to sleep one snowy night, you have a suspicion that school will be
canceled next day due to the winter storm. You are going to make a judgment on the null
hypothesis that you will not have school. What would the results be of Type I and Type II errors?

(A) Type I error: You think you will have school, but you actually won’t. Type II error: You
think you will not have school, but you actually do.
(B) Type I error: You think you will not have school, but you actually won’t. Type II error: You
think you will have school, but you actually won’t.
(C) Type I error: You think you will have school, and you actually do. Type II error: You think
you will not have school, and you actually do.
(D) Type I error: You think you will not have school, and you actually do. Type II error: You
think you will have school, and you actually do.
(E) Type I error: You think you will have school, and you actually won’t. Type II error: You
think you will have school, and you actually do.
______ 11) As you watch your little niece play with her "pullback cars" (pulling the car
backward winds up an internal spiral spring and when you let go, it moves the car forward), you
wonder what the mean distance her car travels is. You decide to conduct an experiment by
pulling back (the same distance) her car 10 times. The mean distance traveled by the car is 30.5
inches with a standard deviation of 5.1 inches. Assuming the conditions for inference are met,
which of the following is the correct 98% confidence interval estimate for µ, the true mean
distance traveled by the pullback car?
5.1
(A) 30.5 ± 2.821 ( )
√10
5.1
(B) 30.5 ± 2.764 ( )
√10

5.1
(C) 30.5 ± 2.764 (√ )
10

5.1
(D) 30.5 ± 2.764 ( )
√9
5.1
(E) 30.5 ± 2.821 ( )
√9

______ 12) A 95% confidence interval for a population mean μ is calculated to be (0.4, 2.3).
Assuming the conditions for performing inference are met, what conclusion can we draw for a
test of 𝐻0 : 𝜇 = 1.5 vs 𝐻0 : 𝜇 ≠ 1.5 at the α = 0.05 level based on the confidence interval?

(A) None. We cannot carry out the test without the original data.
(B) None. We cannot draw a conclusion at the α = 0.05 level because this test corresponds to the
95% confidence interval.
(C) None. Confidence intervals and significance tests are unrelated procedures.
(D) We would reject 𝐻0 at α = 0.05.
(E) We would fail to reject 𝐻0 at α = 0.05.
______ 13) In which of the following situations is a matched-pairs t-test NOT appropriate?

(A) The mean number of questions correct on a pre-test vs the mean number of questions correct
on a post-test given to the same person.
(B) The average blood pressure of a person who is in a resting state vs their blood pressure after
10 minutes of exercise.
(C) The average growth of potatoes in a new fertilizer versus the average growth of potatoes in
an old fertilizer.
(D) The amount of heartburn a person has before they take a drug vs after they take the drug.
(E) The average salary difference of a male in a job position vs a female in the same job position.

______ 14) Which of the following statements is FALSE?

I. If the population distribution is normal, then the sampling distribution for the sample means
will also be normal, regardless of the sample size.
II. If the population distribution is strongly skewed, the sampling distribution for the sample
means will also be strongly skewed, regardless of the sample size.
III. If the population distribution's shape is bimodal, the sampling distribution for the sample
means will also be bimodal, regardless of the sample size.

(A) I only
(B) I and II only
(C) I and III only
(D) II and III only
(E) III only

______ 15) Which of the following is a true statement?

(A) The P-value of a test is the probability of obtaining a result as extreme as or more extreme
than the one obtained, assuming the null hypothesis is true.
(B) If the P-value for a test is 0.035, the probability that the null hypothesis is true is 0.035.
(C) When the null hypothesis is rejected, it is because it is not true.
(D) The greater the P-value, the greater the evidence against the null hypothesis.
(E) A very large P-value provides convincing evidence that the null hypothesis is true.
______ 16) Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are emitted as gases from certain solids or
liquids. An organic cleaning product claims that their product emits less than 15 parts per million
(ppm). A research team tests this claim using the following hypotheses:

H0: μ = 15 HA: μ < 15

They took a sample of 20 products and found 𝑥̅ to be 13.5 ppm. All conditions for inference were
met, and the p-value for the appropriate hypothesis test was 0.088. Which of the following
statements is the best interpretation of the p-value?

(A) The probability that the null hypothesis is true is 0.088.

(B) The probability that the alternative hypothesis is true is 0.088.
(C) The probability of observing a mean reduction of 13.5 ppm is 0.088.
(D) If the null hypothesis is true, the probability of observing a mean of at least 13.5 ppm is
0.088.
(E) If the null hypothesis is true, the probability of observing a mean of at most 13.5 ppm is
0.088.

______ 17) A TikTok fitness influencer claims that people who follow his program lose an
average of 30 pounds in 3 weeks. You suspect this is overestimating the true amount of weight
that is lost when people work out with his program. Let 𝜇𝐵 represent the average weight of his
clients before the program, 𝜇𝐴 represent the average weight of his clients after the program, and
𝜇𝐷 represent the true mean weight loss of each person (Before – After). Which of the following
statements are correct?

(A) This is a matched pairs experiment and your null hypothesis would be 𝐻0 : 𝜇𝐷 = 0
(B) This is an experiment and your null hypothesis would be 𝐻0 : 𝜇𝐵 = 𝜇𝐴
(C) This is an observational study and your null hypothesis would be 𝐻0 : 𝜇𝐵 − 𝜇𝐴 = 0
(D) This is an experiment and your null hypothesis would be 𝐻0 : 𝜇𝐵 > 𝜇𝐴
(E) This is an observational study and your null hypothesis would be 𝐻0 : 𝜇𝐵 − 𝜇𝐴 > 0
______ 18) A college newspaper reported that students who participated in a "work study
program" (an on campus job that allows you to study and do homework while you work),
worked 25 hours per week, on average. You are interested in investigating if this claim is correct.
You gather data on the number of hours worked per week for a random sample of college
students in the work study program. You performed a two sided one sample t test for means.
Below is a summary of the data from the test.

Sample Mean Standard Error df T-Statistic p-value

23.521 0.855 20 -1.730 0.099

Assuming all conditions for inference are met, which of the following represents the 92%
confidence interval for μ?

(A) 23.521 ± 0.362

(B) 23.521 ± 1.844
(C) 23.521 ± 1.479
(D) 23.521 ± 1.577
(E) 23.521 ± 0.855

______ 19) The researchers at Ford want to determine if the true population gas mileage for their
new Ford Fusions is correct. They want to create a 95% confidence interval, so they put a single
gallon of gasoline in the vehicle and recorded how many miles it can travel before it runs out. In
their sample of 30 vehicles, they obtain a sample mean of 28.5 and a sample standard deviation
of 1.2. Which of the following is the correct confidence interval estimate of the mean mileage for
the Ford Fusions?

(A) (28.46, 28.54)

(B) (28.42, 28.58)
(C) (28.1, 28.9)
(D) (27.36, 29.64)
(E) (27.3, 29.7)
______ 20) Doctors are interested if the gestation period for human pregnancies has changed due
to medical advancements and interventions. A study is conducted that randomly selects 15
pregnancies at a large local hospital and finds that the mean gestation period was 279 days with a
standard deviation of 3.1 days. Which of the following is the 99% confidence interval for the
mean gestation period for humans?

(A) (275.33, 282.67)

(B) (278.2, 279. 8)
(C) (275.9, 282.1)
(D) (276.94, 281.06)
(E) (276.62, 281.38)

______ 21) A large company needs to decide if they will be using the delivery services of FedEx
or UPS. To make this decision, they will look at the number of packages that arrived to their
customer's doorstep damaged. They will use the hypotheses H0: μF – μU = 0 and HA: μF – μU ≠ 0,
where μF is the true mean number of packages that arrive damaged from FedEx and μU is the true
mean number of packages that arrive damaged from UPS. In a simple random sample of 40
packages delivered from FedEx, 5 of them were damaged. In a separate simple random sample
of 30 packaged delivered from UPS, 4 of them were damaged. Is the difference between the
averages significant at the 5% level?

(A) Yes, the difference is significant at the 5% level.

(B) No, the difference is not significant at the 5% level.
(C) You cannot perform a two sample t test for means because the sample data is categorical.
(D) You cannot perform a two sample t test for means because you do not know the shape of the
population distribution.
(E) You cannot perform a two sample t test for means because the alternative hypothesis should
be one sided instead of two sided.

Use the following situation for questions 22 – 25.

A new mom is considering different sleep-training methods for her newborn. (Sleep training is
teaching your baby to fall asleep without help from another person) An ad for a new sleep
training method claims that if you use their method, your baby will wake up less times per night
than without using their method. Let μ1 represent the mean amount of times a baby wakes up
using no sleep-training method, and let μ2 represent the mean amount of times a baby wakes up
using the new sleep-training method. In a random sample of 15 "no sleep-trained" babies, they
woke up an average of 1.6 times a night with a standard deviation of 0.5 times. In a random
sample of 10 "new sleep-trained" babies, they woke up an average of 1.3 times a night with a
standard deviation of 0.4 times. Graphs of both sets of data show no outliers or strong skewness.
______ 22) What is the alternative hypothesis if you are testing the claim that the babies who are
sleep trained wake up less than the babies who are sleep-trained?

(A) HA: μ1 = μ2
(B) HA: μ1 < μ2
(C) HA: μ1 > μ2
(D) HA: μ1 ≠ μ2
(E) None of the above

______ 23) Which of the following statements is true?

(A) Even though we took two separate random samples, because they are from the same
population of newborn babies, we can pool the variances as if the samples came from the same
population.
(B) The Central Limit Theorem says that the standard deviation of the combined sampling
𝑆 2 𝑆2 2
distribution will be √ 𝑛1 + .
1 𝑛2

(C) The standard deviation of the combined sampling distribution is √(0.5)2 + (0.4)2
(D) 𝑥̅1 − 𝑥̅2 is an unbiased estimator of 𝜇𝑥̅ 1 −𝑥̅ 2 because the data came from two random samples.
1.6 1.3
(E) The center of our sampling distribution is −
√15 √10

______ 24) What is the test statistic?

(A) 1.66
(B) 1.59
(C) 0.3
(D) 0.47
(E) 2.83

______ 25) A p-value for this hypothesis test is 0.056. What conclusions can we draw?

(A) Significant at ∝ = 0.01 and ∝ = 0.05

(B) Significant at ∝ = 0.01 but not significant at ∝ = 0.05
(C) Significant at ∝ = 0.05 but not significant at ∝ = 0.01
(D) Not significant at either ∝ = 0.01 or ∝ = 0.05
(E) Cannot be determined without knowing the shape of the sampling distribution.
______ 26) In a simple random sample of 55 teenagers, the average amount of money spent on a
new pair of jeans is right skewed, with an average of $23.56 and a standard deviation of $8.40.
Which of the following represents the 96% confidence interval for the average amount of money
that teenagers spend on a new pair of jeans?

8.40
(A) 23.56 ± 2.105√ 55
8.40
(B) 23.56 ± 2.105
√55
8.40
(C) 23.56 ± 2.054√ 55
8.40
(D) 23.56 ± 2.054
√55
(E) You cannot compute the 96% confidence interval because the sample data is right skewed.

______ 27) The number of packages Amazon delivers to each home in a certain town is
recorded. In a sample of 101 households, the average number of packages delivered to a
household in one day was 2.5 packages with a standard deviation of 1.15 packages. With what
degree of confidence can we say that the average amount of packages delivered to all the
households in a certain town is between 2.25 and 2.75?

(A) 88%
(B) 91%
(C) 94%
(D) 97%
(E) 99%

______ 28) You conduct a hypothesis test of H0: μ = 20 vs HA: μ > 20 at a 0.10 level of
significance. You repeat this same test for 10 different data sets. What is the probability of
committing a type I error?

(A) 0.10
(B) 1
(C) 0.20
(D) 0.01
(E) 0.005
______ 29) Which of the following statements regarding the t distribution and the standard
normal distribution is FALSE?

(A) Both the t-distribution and standard normal distribution have a mean of 0.
(B) The t-distribution is most useful for small sample sizes, when the population standard
deviation is not known, or both.
(C) As the sample size increases, the t-distribution becomes more similar to the standard normal
distribution.
(D) The t-distribution is taller in the center of the distribution and smaller in the tails.
(E) The density curve of the t -distribution is more spread out than the density curve of the
standard normal distribution.

______ 30) Choosing a smaller significance level will result in

(A) a smaller risk of Type II error

(B) a lower power
(C) a larger sample size
(D) a smaller confidence level
(E) a decrease in the standard error