CHAPTER 11—INFERENCES ABOUT POPULATION VARIANCES

1.A sample of 60 items from population 1 has a sample variance of 8 while a sample of 40 items from population 2 has a sample variance of 10. If we test whether the
variances of the two populations are equal, the test statistic will have a value of
a. 0.8
b. 1.56
c. 1.5
d. 1.25

2. The value of F0.01 with 9 numerator and 20 denominator degrees of freedom is

a. 2.39
b. 2.94
c. 2.91
d. 3.46

3. A sample of 21 elements is selected to estimate a 90% confidence interval for the variance of the population. The chi-square value(s) to be used for this
interval estimation is (are)
a. -1.96 and 1.96
b. 12.443
c. 10.851 and 31.410
d. 12.443 and 28.412

4. We are interested in testing whether the variance of a population is significantly more than 625. The null hypothesis for this test is
a. Ho: σ2 > 625
b. Ho: σ2 < 625
c. Ho: σ2 > 625
d. Ho: σ2 < 25

5. A sample of 61 observations yielded a sample standard deviation of 6. If we want to test

Ho: σ2 = 40, the test statistic is
a. 54
b. 9.15
c. 54.90
d. 9

6. A sample of 51 elements is selected to estimate a 95% confidence interval for the variance of the population. The chi-square values to be used for this interval
estimation are
a. -1.96 and 1.96
b. 32.357 and 71.420
c. 34.764 and 67.505
d. 12.8786 and 46.9630

7. We are interested in testing whether the variance of a population is significantly less than 1.44. The null hypothesis for this test is
a. Ho: σ2 < 1.44
b. Ho: s2 ≥ 1.44
c. Ho: σ ≤ 1.20
d. Ho: σ2 ≥ 1.44

8. A sample of 41 observations yielded a sample standard deviation of 5. If we want to test H 0: σ2 = 20, the test statistic is
a. 100
b. 10
c. 51.25
d. 50

9. The value of F.05 with 8 numerator and 19 denominator degrees of freedom is

 a. 2.48
b. 2.58
c. 3.63
d. 2.96

10. To avoid the problem of not having access to Tables of F distribution with values given for the lower tail, the numerator of the test statistic should be the one
with
a. the larger sample size
b. the smaller sample size
c. the larger sample variance
d. the smaller sample variance

11. The symbol used for the variance of the population is

a. σ
b. σ2
c. S
d. S2
12. The symbol used for the variance of the sample is
a. σ
b. σ2
c. S
d. S2

13. The random variable for a chi-square distribution may assume

a. any value between -1 to 1
b. any value between - infinity to +infinity
c. any negative value
d. any value greater than zero

14. A sample of n observations is taken from a population. The appropriate chi-square distribution has
a. n degrees of freedom
b. n - 1 degrees of freedom
c. n - 2 degrees of freedom
d. n - 3 degrees of freedom

15. For an F distribution, the number of degrees of freedom for the numerator
a. must be larger than the number of degrees for the
denominator
b. must be smaller than the number of degrees of freedom for
the denominator
c. must be equal to the number of degrees of freedom for the
denominator
d. can be larger, smaller, or equal to the number of degrees of
freedom for the denominator

16. The bottler of a certain soft drink claims their equipment to be accurate and that the variance of all filled bottles is 0.05 or less. The null hypothesis in a test to
confirm the claim would be written as
a. H0: σ2 ≥ 0.05
b. H0: σ2 > 0.05
c. H0: σ2 < 0.05
d. H0: σ2 ≤ 0.05

17. A sample of 20 cans of tomato juice showed a standard deviation of 0.4 ounces. A 95% confidence interval estimate of the variance for the population is
a. 0.2313 to 0.8533
 b. 0.2224 to 0.7924
c. 0.0889 to 0.3169
d. 0.0925 to 0.3413

18. The manager of the service department of a local car dealership has noted that the service times of a sample of 15 new automobiles has a standard deviation of
4 minutes. A 95% confidence interval estimate for the variance of service times for all their new automobiles is
a. 8.576 to 39.796
b. 4 to 16
c. 4 to 15
d. 1.64 to 1.96

19. The manager of the service department of a local car dealership has noted that the service times of a sample of 30 new automobiles has a standard deviation of
6 minutes. A 95% confidence interval estimate for the standard deviation of the service times for all their new automobiles is
a. 16.047 to 45.722
b. 4.778 to 8.066
c. 2.93 to 6.31
d. 22.833 to 65.059

20. The producer of a certain medicine claims that their bottling equipment is very accurate and that the standard deviation of all their filled bottles is 0.1 ounce
or less. A sample of 20 bottles showed a standard deviation of 0.11. The test statistic to test the claim is
a. 400
b. 22.99
c. 4.85
d. 20

21. The producer of a certain bottling equipment claims that the variance of all their filled bottles is 0.027 or less. A sample of 30 bottles showed a standard
deviation of 0.2. The p-value for the test is
a. between 0.025 to 0.05
b. between 0.05 to 0.01
c. 0.05
d. 0.025

22. We are interested in testing to see if the variance of a population is less than 7. The correct null hypothesis is
a. σ<7
b. σ2 ≥ 7
c. S < 49
d. S > 49

23. A random sample of 31 charge sales showed a sample standard deviation of $50. A 90% confidence interval estimate of the population standard deviation is
a. 1,715.10 to 4,055.68
b. 1,596.45 to 4,466.73
c. 39.96 to 66.83
d. 41.39 to 63.68

24. The chi-square values (for interval estimation) for a sample size of 10 at 95% confidence are
a. 9.591 and 34.170
b. 2.700 and 19.023
c. 8.260 and 37.566
d. -1.96 and 1.96

25. The chi-square value for a one-tailed (upper tail) hypothesis test at 95% confidence and a sample size of 25 is
a. 33.196
 b. 36.415
c. 39.364
d. 37.652

26. The chi-square value for a one-tailed test (lower tail) when the level of significance is 0.1 and the sample size is 15 is
a. 21.064
b. 23.685
c. 7.785
d. 6.571

27. The critical value of F at 95% confidence when there is a sample size of 21 for the sample with the smaller variance, and there is a sample size of 9 for the
sample with the larger sample variance is
a. 2.45
b. 2.94
c. 2.37
d. 2.10

28. The sampling distribution of the quantity (n-1)s2/σ2 is the

a. chi-square distribution
b. normal distribution
c. F distribution
d. t distribution

29. The sampling distribution of the ratio of independent sample variances extracted from two normal populations with equal variances is the
a. chi-square distribution
b. normal distribution
c. Z distribution
d. t distribution

30. The 95% confidence interval estimate for a population variance when a sample variance of 324 is obtained from a sample of 81 items is
a. 14.14 to 174.94
b. 243.087 to 453.518
c. 16.42 to 194.35
d. 15.591 to 21.296

31. The 99% confidence interval estimate for a population variance when a sample standard deviation of 12 is obtained from a sample of 10 items is
a. 4.58 to 62.25
b. 46.53 to 422.17
c. 54.94 to 747.01
d. 62.04 to 562.89

32. The 90% confidence interval estimate for a population standard deviation when a sample variance of 50 is obtained from a sample of 15 items is
a. 4.18 to 15.07
b. 5.18 to 11.15
c. 5.44 to 10.32
d. 29.55 to 106.53

33. To avoid the problem of not having access to tables of the F distribution with values given for the lower tail when a two-tailed test is required, let the smaller
sample variance be
a. the denominator of the test statistic
b. the numerator of the test statistic
 c. at least one
d. None of these alternatives is correct.

34. Which of the following has a chi-square distribution?

a. (n - 1)σ2/S2
b. (n - 2)σ2/S2
c. (n - 1)S/σ
d. (n - 1)S2/σ2

36. The sampling distribution used when making inferences about a single population's variance is
a. an F distribution
b. a t distribution
c. a chi-square distribution
d. a normal distribution

37. The sampling distribution of the ratio of two independent sample variances taken from normal populations with equal variances is
a. an F distribution
b. a chi-square distribution
c. a t distribution
d. a normal distribution

Exhibit 11-1
Last year, the standard deviation of the ages of the students at UA was 1.8 years. Recently, a sample of 61 students had a standard deviation of 2.1 years. We are
interested in testing to see if there has been a significant change in the standard deviation of the ages of the students at UA.
38. Refer to Exhibit 11-1. The test statistic is
a. 44.08
b. 79.08
c. 81.67
d. 3.24
39. Refer to Exhibit 11-1. The p-value for this test is
a. 0.05
b. between 0.025 and .05
c. between .05 and .01
d. 1.96
40. Refer to Exhibit 11-1. At 95% confidence the null hypothesis
a. should be rejected
b. should not be rejected
c. should be revised
d. None of these alternatives is correct.

Exhibit 11-2
We are interested in determining whether or not the variances of the sales at two music stores (A and B) are equal. A sample of 26 days of sales at store A has a
sample standard deviation of 30 while a sample of 16 days of sales from store B has a sample standard deviation of 20.
41. Refer to Exhibit 11-2. The test statistic is
a. 1.50
b. 0.67
c. 1.56
d. 2.25
42. Refer to Exhibit 11-2. The p-value for this test is
a. between 0.05 and 0.10
b. between 0.10 and 0.2
c. between 0.2 and 0.3
d. None of these alternatives is correct.
43. Refer to Exhibit 11-2. At 95% confidence the null hypothesis
a. should be rejected
b. should not be rejected
c. should be revised
d. None of these alternatives is correct.
Exhibit 11-3
The contents of a sample of 26 cans of apple juice showed a standard deviation of 0.06 ounces. We are interested in testing to determine whether the variance
of the population is significantly more than 0.003.
44. Refer to Exhibit 11-3. The null hypothesis is
a. S2 > 0.003
b. S2 ≤ 0.003
c. σ2 > 0.003
d. σ2 ≤ 0.003
45. Refer to Exhibit 11-3. The test statistic is
a. 1.2
b. 31.2
c. 30
d. 500
46. Refer to Exhibit 11-3. The p-value for this test is
a. 0.05
b. greater than 0.10
c. less than 0.10
d. 1.96
47. Refer to Exhibit 11-3. At 95% confidence, the null hypothesis
a. should be rejected
b. should not be rejected
c. should be revised
d. None of these alternatives is correct.

Exhibit 11-4
n = 81 s2 = 625 H0: σ2 = 500
Ha: σ2 ≠ 500
48. Refer to Exhibit 11-4. The test statistic for this problem equals
a. 100
b. 101.88
c. 101.25
d. 64
49. Refer to Exhibit 11-4. The p-value is between
a. 0.025 and 0.05
b. 0.05 and 0.1
c. 0.1 and 0.2
d. 0.2 and 0.3
50. Refer to Exhibit 11-4. At 95% confidence, the null hypothesis
a. should be rejected
b. should not be rejected
c. should be revised
d. None of these alternatives is correct.

Exhibit 11-5
n = 14 s = 20 H0: σ2 ≤ 500
Ha: σ2 ≥ 500
51. Refer to Exhibit 11-5. The test statistic for this problem equals
 a. .63
b. 12.68
c. 13.33
d. 13.66
52. Refer to Exhibit 11-5. The null hypothesis is to be tested at the 5% level of significance. The critical value(s) from the table is(are)
a. 22.362
b. 23.685
c. 5.009 and 24.736
d. 5.629 and 26.119
53. Refer to Exhibit 11-5. The null hypothesis
a. should be rejected
b. should not be rejected
c. should be revised
d. None of these alternatives is correct.

Exhibit 11-6
Sample A Sample B
s 2
40 96
n 16 26
We want to test the hypothesis that the population variances are equal.
54. Refer to Exhibit 11-6. The test statistic for this problem equals
a. 0.417
b. .843
c. 2.4
d. 1.500
55. Refer to Exhibit 11-6. The p-value is between
a. 0.025 and 0.05
b. 0.05 and 0.10
c. 0.10 and 0.20
d. 0.00 and 0.01
56. Refer to Exhibit 11-6. At 95% confidence, the null hypothesis
a. should be rejected
b. should not be rejected
c. should be revised
d. None of these alternatives is correct.

Exhibit 11-7
Sample A Sample B
s 2
12.1 5
n 11 10
We want to test the hypothesis that population A has a larger variance than population B.
57. Refer to Exhibit 11-7. The test statistic for this problem equals
a. 0.4132
b. 1.96
c. 2.42
d. 1.645
58. Refer to Exhibit 11-7. The p-value is approximately
a. 0.10
b. 0.05
c. 0.025
d. 0.01
 Exhibit 11-8
n = 23 S2 = 60 H0: σ2 ≤ 66
Ha: σ2 > 66
59. Refer to Exhibit 11-8. The test statistic has a value of
a. 20.91
b. 24.20
c. 24.00
d. 20.00
60. Refer to Exhibit 11-8. If the test is to be performed at 95% confidence, the critical value(s) from the table is(are)
a. 10.9823 and 36.7897
b. 33.924
c. 12.338
d. 33.924
61. Refer to Exhibit 11-8. The p-value is
a. less than 0.025
b. less than 0.05
c. less than 0.10
d. greater than 0.10
62. Refer to Exhibit 11-8. The null hypothesis
a. should be rejected
b. should not be rejected
c. should be revised
d. None of these alternatives is correct.

PROBLEM
1. We are interested in determining whether or not the variances of the sales at two small grocery stores are equal. A sample of 21 days of sales at
Store A and a sample of 16 days of sales at Store B indicated the following.

Store A Store B
n1 = 21 n2 = 16
= 800 = 400

a. Provide the hypotheses to be tested.

b. Compute the test statistic.
c. Determine the critical value of F at 95% confidence.
d. Compute the p-value and use it to test the above hypotheses.
ANS:
a Ho :
. Ha :
b
.
c 2.76
.
d F = 2.0 is between 1.92 and 2.33. Hence, the area in the upper tail is between 0.1 and 0.05. Since this situation represents
. a two-tail test, we double the values and conclude the p-value is between 0.2 and 0.1. Since the p-value is larger than α =
0.05, the null hypothesis is not rejected.

2. A sample of 15 items provides a sample mean of 18 and a sample variance of 16. Compute a 95% confidence interval estimate for the standard deviation of the
population.
ANS:
93 to 6.31 (rounded)

3. A sample of 30 items provided a sample mean of 28 and a sample standard deviation of 6. Test the following hypotheses using α = 0.05. What is your
 conclusion?
H0: σ2 ≤ 25
Ha: σ2 > 25
ANS:
χ2= 41.76 < 45.7222; do not reject H0
p-value is between 0.05 and 0.10

4. A sample of 61 items provided a sample mean of 932, a sample mode of 900, and a sample standard deviation of 11. Test the following hypotheses using α =
0.05. What is your conclusion?
H0: σ2 ≤ 80
Ha: σ2 > 80
ANS:
χ2 = 90.75 > 79.082; reject H0
p-value is less than 0.005

5. We are interested in determining whether or not the variances of the sales at two small grocery stores are equal. A sample of 16 days of sales at each store
indicated the following.
Store A Store B
n1 = 16 n2 = 16
s1 = $130 s2 = $100
Are the variances of the populations (from which these samples came) equal?
Use α = 0.05.
ANS:
F = 1.69 < 2.86
p-value > 0.10; do not reject H0

6. A random sample of 25 employees of a local utility firm showed that their monthly incomes had a sample standard deviation of $112. Provide a 90%
confidence interval estimate for the standard deviation of the incomes for all the firm's employees.
ANS:
90.93 to 147.43 (rounded)

7. A random sample of 41 scores of students taking the ACT test showed a standard deviation of 8 points. Provide a 98% confidence interval estimate for the
standard deviation of all the ACT test scores.
ANS:
6.34 to 10.74 (rounded)

8. A lumber company has claimed that the standard deviation for the lengths of their 6 foot boards is 0.5 inches or less. To test their claim, a random sample of 17
six-foot boards is selected; and it is determined that the standard deviation of the sample is 0.4. Do the results of the sample support the company's claim? Use
α = 0.1.
ANS:
Since χ2 = 25 > 23.54, reject H0
p-value is between .05 and 0.10

9. An egg packing company has stated that the standard deviation of the weights of their grade A large eggs is 0.07 ounces or less. The sample variance for 51
eggs was 0.0065 ounces. Can this sample result confirm the company's claim?
Use α = 0.1.
ANS:
Since χ2 = 66.33 > 63.17, reject H0
p-value is between 0.05 and 0.10

10. The standard deviation of the daily temperatures in Honolulu last year was 5.8 degrees Fahrenheit. A random sample of 25 days resulted in a standard
deviation of 4 degrees Fahrenheit. Has there been a significant increase in the variance of the temperatures? Use α = 0.05.
ANS:
Since χ2 = 50.46 > 36.415, reject H0
p-value is less than .005

11. At α = 0.1, test to see if the population variances from which the following samples were drawn are equal.
Group 1 Group 2
n1 = 21 n2 = 19
s1 = 18 s2 = 16
ANS:
Since F = 1.26 < 2.19, do not reject H0 p-value is greater than 0.1
12. The standard deviation of the ages of a sample of 16 executives from the northern states was 8.2 years; while the standard deviation of the ages of a sample of
25 executives from the southern states was 12.8 years. At α = 0.1, test to see if there is any difference in the standard deviations of the ages of all the northern
and southern executives.
ANS:
Since F = 2.44 > 2.28, reject H0
p-value is between .05 and 0.1

13. Student advisors are interested in determining if the variances of the grades of day students and night students are the same. The following samples are
drawn:
Day Night
n1 = 25 n2 = 31
s1 = 9.8 s2 = 14.7
Test the equality of the variances of the populations at 95% confidence.
ANS:
Since F = 2.25 > 2.18, reject H0
p-value is between .02 and .05

14. The grades of a sample of 5 students, selected from a large population, are given below.
Grade
70
80
60
90
75

a. Determine a point estimate for the variance of the

population.
b. Determine a 95% confidence interval for the variance of the
population.
c. At 90% confidence, test to determine if the variance of the
population is significantly more than 50.
ANS:
a. 125
b. 44.87 to 1032.17 (rounded)
c. H0: ≤ 50
Ha: > 50
χ2 = 5 < 9.488; do not reject H0
p-value is between .025 and .05

15. A machine produces pipes used in airplanes. The average length of the pipe is 16 inches. The acceptable variance for the length is .3 inches. A sample of 25
pipes was taken. The average length in the sample was 15.95 inches with a variance of .4 inches.
a Construct a 95% confidence interval for the population variance.
.
b State the null and alternative hypotheses to be tested.
.
c Compute the test statistic.
.
d The null hypothesis is to be tested at the 5% level of significance. State the decision rule for the test using the critical value
. approach.
e What do you conclude about the population variance?
.
ANS:
a. 0.2439 to 0.7741
b. H0: σ2 = 0.3
Ha: σ2 ≠ 0.3
c. 32
 d. Do not reject H0 if 12.4011 < chi-square < 39.3641
Reject H0 if chi-square > 39.3641 or chi-square < 12.4011
e. Do not reject H0

16. You are given the following results from a sample of 6 observations.
4 6 3 4 3 10

a. Determine the mean and the variance of this sample.

b. Construct a 95% confidence interval for the population standard deviation.
ANS:
a. 5 and 7.2
b. 1.675 to 6.581
17. It is crucial that the variance of a production process be less than or equal to 25. A sample of 22 is taken. The sample variance equaled 26.
a Construct a 90% confidence interval for the population variance.
.
b Construct a 90% confidence interval for the population standard deviation.
.
c State the null and alternative hypotheses to be tested.
.
d Compute the test statistic.
.
e The null hypothesis is to be tested at the 10% level of significance. Using the critical value approach, state the decision rule for the test.
.
f What do you conclude about the population variance?
.
ANS:
a. 16.7123 to 47.1043
b. 4.0881 to 6.8633
c. H0: σ2 ≤ 25
Ha: σ2 > 25
d. 21.84
e. Reject H0 if chi-square > 29.6151
f. Do not reject H0
18. It has been suggested that night shift-workers show more variability in their output levels than day workers. Below, you are given the results of two
independent random samples.
Night Shift Day Shift
Sample Size 9 8
Sample Mean 520 540
Sample Variance 38 20

a. State the null and alternative hypotheses to be tested.

b. Compute the test statistic.
c. Determine the p-value.
d. At 95% confidence, what do you conclude?
ANS:
a. H0: σ21 ≤ σ22
Ha: σ21 > σ22 where population 1 is the night shift
b. 1.9
c. The p-value is greater than 0.1.
d. Do not reject the null hypothesis.

19. The president of a bank believes that the variance of the deposits of suburban customers is more than the variance of city customers. Below you are given the
results of samples taken from suburban and city customers.
Customers Suburban Customers City Customers
 s 150 90
n 21 19

a. State the null and alternative hypotheses to be tested.

b. Compute the test statistic.
c. Determine the p-value.
d. At 95% confidence, what do you conclude?
ANS:
a. H0: σ21 ≤ σ22
Ha: σ21 > σ22
b. 2.78
c. p-value is between .01 and .025
d. Reject H0

20. A random sample of 21 checking accounts at a bank showed an average daily balance of $430 with a standard deviation of $50.
a. Provide a 95% confidence interval estimate of the variance of the population of the checking accounts.
b. Provide a 95% confidence interval estimate of the standard deviation of the population of the checking accounts.
ANS:
a. 1463.27 to 5213.76
b. 38.25 to 72.21

21. A large company has claimed that the standard deviation of the monthly incomes of their employees is less than or equal to $120. To test their claim, a random
sample of 76 employees of the company was taken; and it was determined that the standard deviation of their incomes was $135. At 90% confidence, test the
company's claim.
ANS:
H0: σ2 ≤ 14400
Ha: σ2 > 14400
chi-square = 94.92 > 91.06; p-value is between .05 and .1; reject H0

22. A sample of 16 students showed that the variance in the number of hours they spend studying is 25. At 95% confidence, test to see if the variance of the
population is significantly different from 30. Use the critical value approach.
ANS:
H0: σ2 = 30
Ha: σ2 ≠ 30 chi-square = 12.5; do not reject H0
critical values: 6.262 and 27.488

23. We are interested in determining whether or not the variances of the starting salaries of accounting majors is significantly different from management majors.
The following information was gathered from two samples.
Accounting Management
Sample Size 21 18
Average Monthly Income $3,600 $3,500
Standard Deviation $900 $400
At 90% confidence, test to determine whether or not the variances are equal.
ANS:
H0: variances are equal
Ha: variances are not equal
F = 2.25 > 2.23; reject H0; p-value is between .05 and .1

24. The average grade of a sample of 30 students on their second statistics examination was 85 with a standard deviation of 11. Is the variance of the population
significantly more than 80? Use a 0.05 level of significance.

ANS:
H0: σ2 ≤ 80
Ha: σ2 > 80 chi-square = 43.86 > 39.087; reject H0
p-value is between .025 and .05

25. A company claims that the standard deviation in their delivery time is less than 5 days. A sample of 27 past customers is taken. The average delivery time in
 the sample was 14 days with a standard deviation of 4.5 days. At 95% confidence, test the company's claim. Use the critical value approach.
ANS:
H0: σ2 ≥ 25
Ha: σ2 < 25 chi-square = 21.06 > 15.379; do not reject H0

26. A sample of 22 bottles of soft drink showed a variance of 0.64 in their contents. At 95% confidence, determine whether or not the standard deviation of the
population is significantly different from 0.7. Use the critical value approach.
ANS:
H0: σ2 = 0.49
Ha: σ2 ≠ 0.49 chi-square = 27.43 which is between 10.283 to 35.479; do
not reject H0

27. A random sample of 20 observations showed a standard deviation of 8. At 95% confidence, test to see if the variance of the population is significantly less than
65. Use the critical value approach.
ANS:
H0: σ2 ≥ 65
Ha: σ2 < 65 chi-square = 18.708 > 10.117; do not reject H 0

28. You are given the following data regarding a sample.

X
16
12
21
10
13
18

a Compute the mean and the variance.

.
b Using the critical value approach, test to determine if the variance of the population from which this sample is taken is
. significantly more than 12. Let α = 0.05.
ANS:
a Sample mean = 15; Sample variance = 16.8
.
b Since the test statistic χ2 = 7 < 11.070, do not reject H0 and conclude there is not sufficient evidence to show the variance
. is significantly more than 12.

29. Do the following data indicate that the variance of the population from which this sample has been drawn is significantly more than 17? Use α = 0.05.
X
12
5
9
14
10
ANS:
Since σ2 = 2.70 < 9.488, do not reject H0
p-value is greater than 0.1

30. ACT scores of a sample of UTC students are shown below. At 90% confidence, test to determine whether or not the variance of the ACT scores of the
population of UTC students is significantly different from 40? Use α = 0.10.
Student ACT Score
A 22

B 28

C 20
 D 21

E 28

F 23

G 26
ANS:
Chi square test statistic = 8.25, critical values are 1.6354 and 12.5920; Do not reject Ho