Practice questions test of means

1. A motor manufacturer wishes to replace steel suspension components by aluminum

components to save weight and thereby improve performance and fuel consumption.
Tensile strength tests are carried out on randomly chosen samples of two possible
components before a final choice is made. The results are:
Component no. Sample size Mean tensile strength Standard deviation
Kg/mm2 Kg/mm2
1 15 90 2.3
2 10 88 2.2
Question: Is there any difference between the measured tensile strengths at the 5% level
of significance?

Solution
The null and alternative hypotheses are:

The null hypothesis represents the statement ‘there is no difference in the tensile strengths
of the two components.’ The test statistic Z is calculated as:

Since 2.186 > 1.96 we conclude that, on the basis of the (limited) evidence available, there is a
difference in tensile strength between the components tested. The manufacturer should carry
out more comprehensive tests before making a final decision as to which component to use. The
decision is a serious one with safety implications as well as economic implications.

2. A motor manufacturer is considering whether or not a new fuel formulation will improve
the maximum power output of a particular type of engine. Tests are carried out on
randomly chosen samples of the two fuels in order to inform a decision. The results are:

Fuel type Sample size Mean maximum power Standard deviation

output
1 20 1350 10
2 16 131 8
Is there any difference between the measured power outputs at the 5% level of significance?
Answer
The null hypothesis represents the statement ‘there is no difference in the measured maximum power
outputs.
The null and alternative hypotheses are:

The test statistic Z is calculated as:

Since 1.33 < 1.96 we conclude that, on the basis of the (limited) evidence available, there
is insufficient evidence to conclude that there is a difference in the maximum power
output of the engines tested when run on the different types of fuel.

3. A simple random sample of 36 St Bernard dog weights yields a sample mean of 193
pounds. It is known that the standard deviation of the population of all St Bernard dog
weights is 18 pounds. Test the null hypothesis that the mean weight of all St Bernard dogs
is 200 pounds (use a left-sided test and significance level of 1%). State the conclusion in
terms of the problem.
Solution:
We have that n = 36, x mean = 193, and σ = 18. The critical value of z we need is Z0.01 = 2:32 since
we are using a one-sided z-test with α= :01. The hypothesis test is then carried out as follows:

Rejection Region is (∞, -2.326]

Conclusion Reject the null hypothesis at the 1% significance level. Conclusion in terms of the
problem Reject the null hypothesis that the mean weight of all St Bernards is 200 pounds at the
1% level.

4. Eleven regions in the Congolese rain forest are randomly sampled. In each region rainfall
was monitored for one year, and the following total yearly rainfalls, in centimeters, were
reported:
(276; 255; 255; 297; 213; 241; 269; 262; 145; 185; 209)
Assume that yearly rainfalls within the rain forest are distributed normally. Test the null
hypothesis that the mean yearly rainfall of all locations in the rain forest is 200. Use a two-sided
test with α= 0.01. State the conclusion in terms of the problem.
Solution
By imputing the data into the calculator, we found that n = 11, x mean = 237, and s = 44.68.
The critical value of t we need is t0.05,10 = 3.17 since we are using a two-sided t-test with α= 0.01
and n - 1 = 10. The hypothesis test is then carried out as follows:
Rejection Region (-∞, -3.17] or [3.17, ∞).
Conclusion is Fail to reject the null hypothesis at the 1% significance level.
Conclusion in terms of the problem is Fail to reject the null hypothesis that the mean yearly
rainfall of locations within the rain forest is 200 centimeters per year at the 1% level.

5. The head of the English department is interested in the difference in writing scores between
freshman English students who are taught by different teachers. The incoming freshmen
are randomly assigned to one of two English teachers and are given a standardized writing
test after the first semester. We take a sample of eight students from one class and nine
from the other. Is there a difference in achievement on the writing test between the two
classes? Here’s the data from the two classes.

Solution

Hypothesis Step 1: Clearly state the Null and Alternative Hypothesis. We will be testing to see if
the mean score of the two classes are equal to one another:

Hypothesis Step 2: Identify the appropriate significance level and confirm the test assumptions.
We’ll use the standard significance test of 0.05. We were told that students were randomly
assigned, and we’ll assume that students did not switch classes (for independence), and we’ll
assume the student score are independent from one another. We’ll assume the underlying
population of students in each class is nearly normal in the distribution of scores.
Hypothesis Step 3: Analyze the data and generate the test statistic. Now we’ll use our t-test to get
to the analysis. First, our standard error of the difference between the sample means:

We know that our smallest group has just eight students, so our degrees of freedom is (8-1) = 7. The critical
value of the t-distribution for 7 degrees of freedom is ± 2.365.
Hypothesis Step 4: Interpret your results.
Because our calculated t-value is outside the t-critical value (our value falls in the critical region
of the t distribution), we reject our Null hypothesis. We conclude that the populations of students
in the two classes significantly differ in their standardized test scores at the end of the semester.
As the two classes were randomly assigned, we can conclude that the difference in the scores was
due to the class assignment which class the students were in (and whatever teaching technique was
used).

6. Imagine the college provost at one school said their students’ study more, on average
than those at the neighboring school. However, the provost at the nearby school
believed the study time was the same and wants to clear up the controversy.
So, independent random samples were taken from both schools, with the results
stated below. And at a 5% significance level, the following significance test is
conducted.

Given

Solutions
1. Hypothesis is

2. test statistic
3. degree of freedom

4. F value

5. find t critical value

6. decision

We fail to reject H0
Practice questions on factorial design
1) An engineer designs a 22 design with n = 4 replicates to study the effects of bit size (A)
and cutting speed (B) on routing notches in a printed circuit board.

Note: the signs in the AB column are the signs that result when multiplying the A and B columns.
a) Estimate the main effects and the interaction effect
b) Calculate sum of squares.

Solution:
a)

Therefore, the main effects and interaction effect are A = 16.634, B = 7.538 and AB = 8.713
respectively.
b) Sum of squares

2. An engineer is interested in the effects of cutting speed (A), tool geometry (B), and cutting angle
(C) on the life (in hours) of a machine tool. Two levels of each factor are chosen, and three
replicates of a 23 are run. The results are summarized below:
 a) Estimate the effect values
b) Calculate squares
c) Prepare ANOVA table (do by yourself)
Solutions:
(1) a b ab c ac bc abc
78 104 119 148 127 113 164 127

a) Effect estimates are:

A=0.333, B=11.333, C=6.8333, AB= -1.666, AC= -8.833, BC= -2.833 and ABC= -2.166

b) Sum of squares
Practice questions on nested design
1. Givens:
•3 cages
• 4 mosquitoes within each cage
• 2 independent measurements per mosquito

Solution:
1. Calculate sample means

2. Calculate sum of squares, degree of freedom, mean square deviation, F ratio and
finally prepare ANOVA table.
using the formulas provided above, we can get the following results.

Give decision by yourselve