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This section is a very brief overview of the distribution and two of its applications - One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and test of two variances. There are college courses which deal exclusively with these topics. ANOVA, particularly, is used regularly in industry.
These calculations are easily done with a graphing calculator or a computer program. We present the information in the chapter assuming some kind of technology will be used.
For ANOVA, the samples must come from normally distributed populations with the same variance, and the samples must be independent. The ANOVA test is right-tailed.
In a test of two variances, the samples must come from normal populations and must be independent of each other.
Three different diet plans are to be tested for average weight loss. For each diet plan, 4 dieters are selected and their weight loss (in pounds) in one month's time is recorded.
Plan 1 | Plan 2 | Plan 3 |
---|---|---|
5 | 3.5 | 8 |
4.5 | 7 | 4 |
4 | 6 | 3.5 |
3 | 4 | 4.5 |
Is the average weight loss the same for each plan? Conduct an ANOVA test with a 1% level of significance.
Let , , and be the population means for the three diet plans.
The distribution for the test is
Using a calculator or computer, the test statistic is . The notation used for the statistic may also be or (like the distribution). The TI-83/84 series has the function ANOVA in STAT TESTS. Enter the lists of data separated by commas.
If you use the formulas for groups of the same size, the calculations are as follows:
Sample means are 4.13, 5.13, and 5, respectively. Sample standard deviations are 0.8539, 1.6250, and 2.0412, respectively.
The variance of the sample means | |
The mean of the sample variances | |
The sample size of each group |
Probability Statement:
Since -value, do not reject .
There is not sufficient evidence to conclude that the three diet plans are different. It appears that the three diet plans work equally well. The average weight loss is the same for all three plans.
Machine A makes a box and machine B makes a lid. For the lid to fit the box correctly, the variances should be nearly the same. There is a suspicion that the variance of the box is greater than the variance of the lid. The following data was collected.
Machine A (Box) | Machine B (Lid) | |
---|---|---|
Number of Parts | 9 | 11 |
Variance | 150 | 45 |
Are the machines working properly? Test at a 5% level of significance.
Let and be the population variances for machine A and machine B, respectively
The distribution for the hypothesis test is
If you are using the TI-83/84 calculators, use the function 2-SAMPFTest for the test.
Using the formulas,
The test statistic is
Since -value, reject the null hypothesis.
There is sufficient evidence to conclude that the box and lid do not fit each other. The variance of the box is larger.
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