v.

Case Razor Blades – week 2A

A major manufacturer of razor-blades claims that double blade razors last longer than single-blade
razors.
A competitor, selling single-blade razors, wants to test this claim. Two independent samples of 8
men are drawn. The first group uses the single blade razors. The second uses the double blade
razors. Every participant counts the number of times that the blades last. The results:
single blade 10 6 3 7 13 15 5 7
double blade 8 18 10 11 16 10 6 12

a. What is the type of the data?

b. Do these data support the claim of the manufacturer? Use 𝛼𝛼 = 5%.
c. Why should we call the applied test ‘nonparametric’ ?
d. Why should we call the applied test ‘distribution-free’?
e. Can you make suggestions to improve the experimental design?

SPSS-output case Razor Blades: Mann-Whitney Test

Ranks
Mean Sum of
Blade N Rank Ranks
Times Single 8 6.69 53.50
Double 8 10.31 82.50
Total 16

a
Test Statistics
Times
Mann-Whitney U 17.500
Wilcoxon W 53.500
Z -1.530
Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .126
Exact Sig. (2-tailed) .137
Exact Sig. (1-tailed) .068
a. Grouping Variable: Blade

1
a. Type of data
Quantitative (or Interval)

b. Hypothesis test
Conditions and assumptions
• Two independent random samples
• Available: quantitative
• Required: ordinal (or higher)
• No reason to assume normality, so we use the Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test
Hypotheses
𝐻𝐻0 : single and double blade razors last the same number of times
𝐻𝐻1 : double blade razors last longer than single blade razors
Test statistic:
𝑇𝑇 = 𝑇𝑇1 = rank sum for single blade razors
(or define test statistic 𝑇𝑇 = 𝑇𝑇2 = the rank sum for double blade razors)
Rejection region: from table 7:
𝐿𝐿
𝑇𝑇1 ≤ 𝑇𝑇𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 = 51
(see table, left-sided rejection region, sample sizes 8 and 8 respectively)
𝑈𝑈
(or: If you had chosen 𝑇𝑇 = 𝑇𝑇2 as test statistic, then 𝑇𝑇2 ≥ 𝑇𝑇𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 = 85)
Calculation of observed value for 𝑻𝑻 :
First assign ranks:
rank: 9 3.5 1 5.5 13 14 2 5.5
single-blade 10 6 3 7 13 15 5 7
double-blade 8 18 10 11 16 10 6 12
rank: 7 16 9 11 15 9 3.5 12
Observed rank sum 𝑇𝑇𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 = 𝑇𝑇1 = 9 + 3.5 + 1 + 5.5 + ⋯ = 53.5 (also seen in SPSS output)
Confrontation:
The observed rank sum 𝑇𝑇𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 does not lie within the rejection region, so do not reject 𝐻𝐻0 .
Conclusion:
Using these samples, there is not enough evidence to infer that double blade razors last
longer.

c. Nonparametric
We are not using a specific parameter in 𝐻𝐻0 .

d. Distribution-free
We are not making any assumptions about the form of the distribution in the population.

e. Experimental design
Matched pairs design is better: 8 persons using both a single and a double blade razor.