Section V: Homework

1) According to eCreamery.com Americans are the No.1 consumers of ice cream in the world, where an
average person eats 48 pints of ice cream a year. The marketing divisions of Turkey Hill and Breyers Ice
Cream came together to develop an advertising campaign to increase the amount of ice cream American
eat annually. The hypotheses are:
Ho :  = 48 pints
Ha :  > 48 pints
Suppose that the results of sampling lead to rejection of the null hypothesis. Classify that conclusion as a
Type I Error, a Type II Error, or a correct decision, if in fact the average ice cream consumption has not
increased.

2) It is claimed that the average length of movies in 2017 is 110 minutes. A group of movie goers believes
this average is not correct. The hypotheses are:
Ho :  = 110
Ha :  ≠ 110
Suppose that the results of sampling lead to rejection of the null hypothesis. Classify that conclusion as a
Type I Error, a Type II Error, or a correct decision, if in fact the average movie time is 120 minutes.

3) According to Forbes Magazine the average student loan debt in 2016 was $37,172. It is believed the
average student loan debt for students in the class of 2017 is greater than $37,172. The hypotheses are:
Ho :  = $37,172
Ha :  > $37,172
Suppose that the results of sampling lead to non-rejection of the null hypothesis. Classify that conclusion
as a Type I Error, a Type II Error, or a correct decision, if in fact the student loan debt has increased.

4) According to Zillow.com in 2017 the average price of a home sold in NJ was $273,900. A consumer
advocacy group believes this value is too high. The hypotheses are:
Ho :  = $273,900
Ha :  < $273,900
Suppose that the results of sampling lead to non-rejection of the null hypothesis. Classify that conclusion
as a Type I Error, a Type II Error, or a correct decision, if in fact the average sale price is $273,900.

163
5) An extensive survey in 1970 revealed that preschool children spend an average of 6.3 hours per day
watching television. The distribution of TV times is normal with population standard deviation of 2. Last
year a sample of n = 100 preschool children gave a mean of 5.8 hours of television per day. Test to
determine if the average time preschool children spend watching TV per day has decreased at the 0.01
significance level. Show all steps.

µ = ________

σ = _______

x̅ = _______

n = _______

α = ________

6) IQ scores for the general population form a normal distribution with  = 100 and  = 15. However, there
are data that indicate that children’s intelligence can be affected if their mothers have German measles
during pregnancy. Using hospital records, a researcher obtained a sample of n = 20 school children whose
mothers all had German measles during their pregnancies. The average IQ for this sample was 𝑥̅ = 97.3. Do
these data indicate that German measles have an effect on IQ? Test with  = 0.05. Show all steps.

µ = ________

σ = _______

x̅ = _______

n = _______

α = ________

7) At a large university, a claim is made that the mean age of all full-time undergraduate day students is 19.
Some graduate students taking a statistics course believe the true mean age is greater than 19, so they
obtain a random sample of 64 full-time undergraduate day students. The mean of the sample was 21.5 with
a population standard deviation of 2.4. Test at the 0.10 significance level. Show all steps.

µ = ________

σ = _______

x̅ = _______

n = _______

α = ________

164
8) The former administrator at University Hospital states that on weekends the average wait time for
emergency room visits is 20 minutes. The new hospital administrator believes the average wait time is
different than 20 minutes. A random sample of 40 weekend patients is selected and the mean is found to be
18 minutes and the population standard deviation is 6 minutes. Test at the 0.05 level of significance. Show
all steps.

µ = ________

σ = _______

x̅ = _______

n = _______

α = ________

9) To perform a certain mechanical operation on a car, an average of 6.3 hours is required. A mechanic
believes he has discovered a faster method. To see if his method is more efficient, a random sample of 25
cars are selected and the mechanical operation is performed using the new method. The mean number of
hours for the sample is 5.9 hours with a population standard deviation of 1.5 hours. Test at the 0.01 level of
significance. Show all steps.

µ = ________

σ = _______

x̅ = _______

n = _______

α = ________

165
10) One of the measurements used to determine the health of a person’s lungs is the amount of air a
person can exhale under force in one second. This is called the forced expiratory volume in one second,
and is abbreviated FEV1. Assume the mean FEV1 for 10-year-old boys is 2.1 liters and the population
standard deviation is 0.3. A random sample of 100 10-year-old boys who live in a community with high
levels of ozone pollution are found to have a sample mean FEV1 of 1.95 liters. Using the Minitab printout
below, can you conclude the mean FEV1 in the high-pollution community is less than 2.1 liters? Use α =
0.01. Show all steps.

11) Using the Minitab printout below, test the hypothesis that the average GPA of all MCCC students is
greater than 3.0, at the 0.05 level of significance. Show all steps.

166
12) The average daily sales of a grocery store has been $8,000 per day. The store has introduced several
advertising campaigns in order to increase sales. A random sample of 51 days of sales was selected. It
was found that the average daily sales was $8,550 with a standard deviation of $500. Test to determine
whether the advertising has been effective. Use a  = 0.01. Show all steps.

µ = ________

s = _______

x̅ = _______

n = _______

α = ________

13) Issy Everright makes a claim that the mean age of all Mercer students is 26. We suspect this claim
may be too high so we select a random sample of 44 students. We find that the mean age of the sample
is 24.63 with a standard deviation of 8.72. Test the claim at the 10% significance level. Show all steps.

µ = ________

s = _______

x̅ = _______

n = _______

α = ________

14) A claim is made that the mean number of hours spent by full-time college students studying is 18
hours per week. A group of students wonder if this claim is correct and select a random sample of 16
students. The mean number of hours of studying time per week for the sample is 12 with a standard
deviation of 8 hours. Test at α = 0.05. Show all steps.

µ = ________

s = _______

x̅ = _______

n = _______

α = ________

167
15) A claim is made that the mean length of crickets in Mercer County is 3.75cm. To test this claim an
entomology student obtains a random sample of 21 crickets. The mean of the sample is 4.05 with a
standard deviation of 0.83. Test at the 1% significance level. Show all steps.

µ = ________

s = _______

x̅ = _______

n = _______

α = ________

16) Candle Power Unlimited claimed that the mean life of its 22oz candle is 150 hours. The company
offered a prize of $500 to anyone who could prove this claim to be too high at the 5% significance level. A
group of Mercer students who were taking statistics gathered a random sample of 29 candles. The
sample had a mean life of 141 hours with a standard deviation of 15 hours. Test the hypothesis showing
all steps. Do the students win the $500? Show all steps.

µ = ________

s = _______

x̅ = _______

n = _______

α = ________

168
17) A college admissions officer believes that this year’s freshman class is superior in math aptitude to
previous classes, where the average in previous classes was 470. If you test a random sample of 400
freshman, with mean of 490 and standard deviation of 120, using the Minitab printout below and at the
0.01 significance level would you support the officer’s claim? Show all steps.

18) Using the Minitab printout below, test the hypothesis that the average amount of sleep per night all
MCCC students get is 7.5 hours, at the 0.05 level of significance. Show all steps.

169