Assignment 4: Test on Two Means and Test on Proportions

Answer the following problems. State your conclusion in the context of the given problem.

1. Hallam, Price, and Katsarou (2002) investigated the influence of background noise on classroom
performance for children aged 10 to 12. In one part of the study, calming music led to better
performance on an arithmetic task compared to a no-music condition. Suppose that a researcher
selects one class of n =18 students who listen to calming music each day while working on
arithmetic problems. A second class of n = 18 serves as a control group with no music. Accuracy
scores are measured for each child and the average for students in the music condition is 86.4
with a variance of 86.11 compared to an average of 78.8 with a variance of 70.82 for students in
the no music condition. Test if there is a significant difference between the two music
conditions? Use a 0.05 level of significance in conducting the test. Assume that the scores are
normally distributed with equal population variance.

SOLUTION:

 Since there are two different groups, an INDEPENDENT T-TEST will be used.
 A TWO-TAILED T-TEST will also be used since the objective of the problem is to test if there is a
significant difference between two groups.
 Null Hypothesis: the true difference between a group of students who listen to calm music and a
group of students who don’t is zero.
 Alternate Hypothesis: the true difference of these groups is not equal to zero.
 From the question, the following data are summarized in the table.

WITH MUSIC WITHOUT MUSIC

SUM n1 = 18 n2 = 18
AVERAGE x̅1 = 86.4 x̅2 = 78.8
VARIANCE δ12 = 86.11 δ22 = 70.82
STANDARD DEVIATION δ1 = 9.2795 δ22 = 8.41546

df (degree of freedom) : n1 +n 2−2=18+18−2=34

 Using the t formula:

√ √
2 2
( n1 −1 ) δ 1 +(n2−1)δ 2 ( 18−1 ) 86.11+ ( 18−1 ) 70. 82 = 8.8580
s p= =
n1+ n2−2 18+18−2

x̅ 1−x̅ 2 86.4−78.8
t= = =2.574

√ S 2p ×(
1 1
+ )
n1 n2 √ 2 1 1
8.8580 ×( + )
18 18

 Based on the t-table:

df level of significance 0.05

34 2.0322
The critical t value is 2.0322.

 FINDING: The critical t value, 2.0322, is less than the computed t value which is 2.574. Hence, the
null hypothesis will be rejected.
 CONCLUSION: There is a significant difference in the performance of the students who listen to
calm music and the students who don’t listen to music.
2. There is some evidence suggesting that you are likely to improve your test score if you rethink
and change answers on a multiple-choice exam (Johnston, 1975). To examine this phenomenon,
a teacher gave the same final exam to two sections of a psychology course. The students in one
section were told to turn in their exams immediately after finishing, without changing any of
their answers. In the other section, students were encouraged to reconsider each question and
to change answers whenever they felt it was appropriate. Before the final exam, the teacher had
matched 9 students in the first section with 9 students in the second section based on their
midterm grades. For example, a student in the no-change section with an 89 on the midterm
exam was matched with student in the change section who also had an 89 on the midterm. The
final exam grades for the 9 matched pairs of students are presented in the following table. Do
the data indicate a significant difference between the two conditions? Use a .05 level of
significance.

SOLUTION:

 Because the given data are paired samples, the PAIRED T-TEST will be used.
 Null Hypothesis: The mean of the paired differences is equal to zero.
 Alternative Hypothesis: The mean of the paired differences is not equal to zero.
 Using SPSS:

 FINDING:
o The output indicates that the mean for the no change section is 76.11 and
83.11 for the change section. The mean difference between the paired groups
is -7.
o The p-value is 0.008, which is less than the standard significance level of 0.05.
 CONCLUSION:
 o The null hypothesis will be rejected.
o There is a significant difference between the two groups.
3. Suppose that, in the past, 40% of all adults favored capital punishment. Do we have reason to
believe that the proportion of adults favoring capital punishment has increased if, in a random
sample of 55 adults, 38 favor capital punishment? Use a 0.05 level of significance.

 ONE-SAMPLE Z-TEST will be used since the problem has a large sample size.
 Use One-Tailed Test
 Null Hypothesis: The mean proportion is still 0.40. (p=0.40)
 Alternative Hypothesis: The mean proportion has increased. (p>0.40)
 Test Statistic:
o n=55
o μ=0.40
38
o X= =0.691
55
o δ=√ npq=√ 55× 0.40 ×0.60=3.633
X−μ 0.691−0.40
Z= = =0.59 ≈ 0.60
o δ 3.633
√n √ 55
 The P-value for one-tailed test with 0.05 level of significance for z = 0.60 is 0. 274253.
 FINDING:
o 0. 274253>0.05
o The p-value is greater than 0.05 level of significance.
 CONCLUSION:
o The null hypothesis was failed to be rejected.
o There is no sufficient evidence to conclude that the proportion of adults favoring capital
punishment has increased.
4. In a study on the fertility of married women conducted by Martin O’Connell and Carolyn C.
Rogers for the Census Bureau in 1979, two groups of childless wives aged 25 to 29 were selected
at random, and each was asked if she eventually planned to have a child. One group was selected
from among wives married less than two years and the other from among wives married five
years. Suppose that 240 of the 300 wives married less than two years planned to have children
some day compared to 288 of the 400 wives married five years. Can we conclude that the
proportion of wives married less than two years who planned to have children is significantly
higher than the proportion of wives married five years? Use a .05 level of significance.

 TWO POPULATION Z-TEST will be used.

 Null Hypothesis: The proportion of wives planning to have children is the same in both groups.
 Alternative Hypothesis: The proportion of wives planning to have children is higher in the group
married less than two years compared to the group married for five years.
 Given values:

Married less than 2 years Married for five years

Total Population n1 = 300 n2 = 400
No. of wives who planned
y1 = 240 y2 = 288
to have children
240 288
Proportion ^p1 = =0.8 ^p2 = =0.72
300 400
 Using the formula:

y 1 + y 2 240+288
^p= = =0.7543
n1 +n2 300+ 400

( ^p 1−^p2 )−0 0.8−0.72

z= = =2.433

√ (
^p (1− ^p ) 1 + 1
n1 n2 ) √ 0.7543(1−0.7543)(
1
+
1
300 400
)

 Since it is one-tailed and it will use a 0.05 level of significance, the value of p for a z score of
2.433 is p=0.00755 .
 FINDING:
o 0.00755< 0.05
o The p value is less than 0.05, the level of significance.
 CONCLUSION:
o The null hypothesis will be rejected.
o The proportion of wives planning to have children is significantly higher in the group
married less than two years compared to the group married for five years.