Module 9: Hypothesis Testing With One Sample
Section Exercises
Barbara Illowsky & OpenStax et al.
Null and Alternative Hypotheses
1. You are testing that the mean speed of your cable Internet connection is more than three Megabits per second. What is the random variable? Describe in words.
5. A sociologist claims the probability that a person picked at random in Times Square in New York City is visiting the area is 0.83. You want to test to see if the claim is correct. State the null and alternative hypotheses.
8. A random survey of 75 death row inmates revealed that the mean length of time on death row is 17.4 years with a standard deviation of 6.3 years. If you were conducting a hypothesis test to determine if the population mean time on death row could likely be 15 years, what would the null and alternative hypotheses be?
- H0: __________
- Ha: __________
10. Some of the following statements refer to the null hypothesis, some to the alternate hypothesis. State the null hypothesis, H0, and the alternative hypothesis. Ha, in terms of the appropriate parameter (μ or p).
- The mean number of years Americans work before retiring is 34.
- At most 60% of Americans vote in presidential elections.
- The mean starting salary for San Jose State University graduates is at least $100,000 per year.
- Twenty-nine percent of high school seniors get drunk each month.
- Fewer than 5% of adults ride the bus to work in Los Angeles.
- The mean number of cars a person owns in her lifetime is not more than ten.
- About half of Americans prefer to live away from cities, given the choice.
- Europeans have a mean paid vacation each year of six weeks.
- The chance of developing breast cancer is under 11% for women.
- Private universities’ mean tuition cost is more than $20,000 per year.
11. Over the past few decades, public health officials have examined the link between weight concerns and teen girls’ smoking. Researchers surveyed a group of 273 randomly selected teen girls living in Massachusetts (between 12 and 15 years old). After four years the girls were surveyed again. Sixty-three said they smoked to stay thin. Is there good evidence that more than thirty percent of the teen girls smoke to stay thin? The alternative hypothesis is:
- p < 0.30
- p ≤ 0.30
- p ≥ 0.30
- p > 0.30
12. A statistics instructor believes that fewer than 20% of Evergreen Valley College (EVC) students attended the opening night midnight showing of the latest Harry Potter movie. She surveys 84 of her students and finds that 11 attended the midnight showing. An appropriate alternative hypothesis is:
- p = 0.20
- p > 0.20
- p < 0.20
- p ≤ 0.20
13. Previously, an organization reported that teenagers spent 4.5 hours per week, on average, on the phone. The organization thinks that, currently, the mean is higher. Fifteen randomly chosen teenagers were asked how many hours per week they spend on the phone. The sample mean was 4.75 hours with a sample standard deviation of 2.0. Conduct a hypothesis te