11.8 Exercises  (Page 2/7)

A powder diet is tested on 49 people and a liquid diet is tested on 36 different people. Of interest is whether the liquid diet yields a higher mean weight loss than the powder diet. The powder diet group had an mean weight loss of 42 pounds with a standard deviation of 12 pounds. The liquid diet group had an mean weight loss of 45 pounds with a standard deviation of 14 pounds.

The mean number of English courses taken in a two–year time period by male and female college students is believed to be about the same. An experiment is conducted and data are collected from 29 males and 16 females. The males took an average of 3 English courses with a standard deviation of 0.8. The females took an average of 4 English courses with a standard deviation of 1.0. Are the means statistically the same?

A study is done to determine if students in the California state university system take longer to graduate, on average, than students enrolled in private universities. 100 students from both the California state university system and private universities are surveyed. Suppose that from years of research, it is known that the population standard deviations are 1.5811 years and 1 year, respectively. The following data are collected. The California state university system students took on average 4.5 years with a standard deviation of 0.8. The private university students took on average 4.1 years with a standard deviation of 0.3.

A new SAT study course is tested on 12 individuals. Pre-course and post-course scores are recorded. Of interest is the mean increase in SAT scores. The following data are collected:

A recent drug survey showed an increase in use of drugs and alcohol among local high school seniors as compared to the national percent. Suppose that a survey of 100 local seniors and 100 national seniors is conducted to see if the proportion of drug and alcohol use is higher locally than nationally. Locally, 65 seniors reported using drugs or alcohol within the past month, while 60 national seniors reported using them.

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 )