Exam 9: Introduction to Hypothesis Testing

When using the p-value method, the null hypothesis is rejected when the calculated p-value > α.

In hypothesis testing, the null hypothesis is the hypothesis that the researcher believes is true and wishes to prove.

One claim states the IRS conducts audits for not more than 5 percent of total tax returns each year. In order to test this claim statistically, the appropriate null and alternative hypotheses are: H0 : μ ≤ 0.05 Ha : μ > 0.05

A concern of Major League Baseball is that games last too long. Some executives in the league's headquarters believe that the mean length of games this past year exceeded 3 hours (180 minutes). To test this, the league selected a random sample of 80 games and found the following results: = 193 minutes and s = 16 minutes. Based on these results, if the null hypothesis is tested using an alpha level equal to 0.10, which of the following is true?

A recent article in The Wall Street Journal entitled "As Identity Theft Moves Online, Crime Rings Mimic Big Business" states that 39% of the consumer scam complaints by American consumers are about identity theft. Suppose a random sample of 90 complaints is obtained. Of these complaints, 40 were regarding identity theft. Based on these sample data, what conclusion should be reached about the statement made in The Wall Street Journal? (Test using α= 0.10.)

The critical value in a null hypothesis test is called alpha.

The Adams Shoe Company believes that the mean size for men's shoes is now more than 10 inches. To test this, it has selected a random sample of n = 100 men. Assuming that the test is to be conducted using a .05 level of significance, a p-value of .07 would lead the company to conclude that its belief is correct.

Hono Golf is a manufacturer of golf products in Taiwan and China. One of the golf accessories it produces at its plant in Tainan Hsing, Taiwan, is plastic golf tees. The injector molder produces golf tees that are designed to have an average height of 66 mm. To determine if this specification is met, random samples are taken from the production floor. One sample is contained in the file labeled THeight. Determine if the process is not producing the tees to specification. Use a significance level of 0.01.

In testing a hypothesis, statements for the null and alternative hypotheses as well as the selection of the level of significance should precede the collection and examination of the data.

A mail-order business prides itself in its ability to fill customers' orders in six calendar days or less on the average. Periodically, the operations manager selects a random sample of customer orders and determines the number of days required to fill the orders. Based on this sample information, he decides if the desired standard is not being met. He will assume that the average number of days to fill customers' orders is six or less unless the data suggest strongly otherwise. Establish the appropriate null and alternative hypotheses.

When deciding the null and alternative hypotheses, the rule of thumb is that if the claim contains the equality (e.g., at least, at most, no different from, etc.), the claim becomes the null hypothesis. If the claim does not contain the equality (e.g., less than, more than, different from), the claim is the alternative hypothesis.

If a decision maker wishes to reduce the chance of making a Type II error, one option is to increase the sample size.

If the hypothesis test you are conducting is a two-tailed test, which of the following is a possible step that you could take to increase the power of the test?

If a hypothesis test is conducted for a population mean, a null and alternative hypothesis of the form: H0 : μ = 100 HA : μ ≠ 100 will result in a one-tailed hypothesis test since the sample result can fall in only one tail.

The state insurance commissioner believes that the mean automobile insurance claim filed in her state exceeds $1,700. To test this claim, the agency has selected a random sample of 20 claims and found a sample mean equal to $1,733 and a sample standard deviation equal to $400. They plan to conduct the test using a 0.05 significance level. Based on this, the null hypothesis should be rejected if > $1,854.66 approximately.

A major airline is concerned that the waiting time for customers at its ticket counter may be exceeding its target average of 190 seconds. To test this, the company has selected a random sample of 100 customers and times them from when the customer first arrives at the checkout line until he or she is at the counter being served by the ticket agent. The mean time for this sample was 202 seconds with a standard deviation of 28 seconds. Given this information and the desire to conduct the test using an alpha level of 0.02, which of the following statements is true?

The loan manager for State Bank and Trust has claimed that the mean loan balance on outstanding loans at the bank is over $14,500. To test this at a significance level of 0.05, a random sample of n = 100 loan accounts is selected. Assuming that the population standard deviation is known to be $3,000, the null and alternative hypotheses to be tested are: H0 : μ ≤ $14,500 HA : μ > $14,500

Because of the complex nature of the U.S. income tax system, many people have questions for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Yet, an article published by the Detroit Free Press entitled "Assistance: IRS Help Centers Give the Wrong Information" discusses the propensity of IRS staff employees to give incorrect tax information to tax-payers who call with questions. Then IRS Inspector General Pamela Gardiner told a Senate subcommittee that "the IRS employees at 400 taxpayer assistance centers nationwide encountered 8.5 million taxpayers face-to-face last year. The problem: When inspector general auditors posing as taxpayers asked them to answer tax questions, the answers were right 69% of the time." Suppose an independent commission was formed to test whether the 0.69 accuracy rate is correct or whether it is actually higher or lower. The commission has randomly selected n = 180 tax returns that were completed by IRS assistance employees and found that 105 of the returns were accurately completed. Using an α= 0.05 level, based on the sample data, what conclusion should be reached about the IRS rate of correct tax returns?

A cell phone company believes that 90 percent of its customers are satisfied with their service. They survey n = 30 customers. Based on this, it is acceptable to assume the sample distribution is normally distributed.

Swift is the holding company for Swift Transportation Co., Inc., a truckload carrier headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Swift operates the largest truckload fleet in the United States. Before Swift switched to its current computer-based billing system, the average payment time from customers was approximately 40 days. Suppose before purchasing the present billing system, it performed a test by examining a random sample of 24 invoices to see if the system would reduce the average billing time. The sample indicates that the average payment time is 38.7 days. The company that created the billing system indicates that the system would reduce the average billing time to less than 40 days. Conduct a hypothesis test to determine if the new computer-based billing system would reduce the average billing time to less than 40 days. Assume the standard deviation is known to be 6 days. Use a significance level of 0.025.