10.7 Hypothesis testing of two means and two proportions: homework  (Page 2/4)

A student at a four-year college claims that mean enrollment at four–year colleges is higher than at two–year colleges in the United States. Two surveys are conducted. Of the 35 two–year colleges surveyed, the mean enrollment was 5068 with a standard deviation of 4777. Of the 35 four-year colleges surveyed, the mean enrollment was 5466 with a standard deviation of 8191. (Source: Microsoft Bookshelf )

A study was conducted by the U.S. Army to see if applying antiperspirant to soldiers’ feet for a few days before a major hike would help cut down on the number of blisters soldiers had on their feet. In the experiment, for three nights before they went on a 13-mile hike, a group of 328 West Point cadets put an alcohol-based antiperspirant on their feet. A “control group” of 339 soldiers put on a similar, but inactive, preparation on their feet. On the day of the hike, the temperature reached 83° F. At the end of the hike, 21% of the soldiers who had used the antiperspirant and 48% of the control group had developed foot blisters. Conduct a hypothesis test to see if the proportion of soldiers using the antiperspirant was significantly lower than the control group. (Source: U.S. Army study reported in Journal of the American Academy of Dermatologists )

We are interested in whether the proportions of female suicide victims for ages 15 to 24 are the same for the white and the black races in the United States. We randomly pick one year, 1992, to compare the races. The number of suicides estimated in the United States in 1992 for white females is 4930. 580 were aged 15 to 24. The estimate for black females is 330. 40 were aged 15 to 24. We will let female suicide victims be our population. (Source : the National Center for Health Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services )

Elizabeth Mjelde, an art history professor, was interested in whether the value from the Golden Ratio formula, $\left(\frac{l\text{arg}\mathrm{er}+\text{smaller dimension}}{l\text{arger dimension}}\right)$ was the same in the Whitney Exhibit for works from 1900 – 1919 as for works from 1920 – 1942. 37 early works were sampled. They averaged 1.74 with a standard deviation of 0.11. 65 of the later works were sampled. They averaged 1.746 with a standard deviation of 0.1064. Do you think that there is a significant difference in the Golden Ratio calculation? (Source: data from Whitney Exhibit on loan to San Jose Museum of Art )

Mean entry level salaries for college graduates with mechanical engineering degrees and electrical engineering degrees are believed to be approximately the same. (Source: http:// www.graduatingengineer.com ). A recruiting office thinks that the mean mechanical engineering salary is actually lower than the mean electrical engineering salary. The recruiting office randomly surveys 50 entry level mechanical engineers and 60 entry level electrical engineers. Their mean salaries were $46,100 and $46,700, respectively. Their standard deviations were $3450 and $4210, respectively. Conduct a hypothesis test to determine if you agree that the mean entry level mechanical engineering salary is lower than the mean entry level electrical engineering salary.