Hypothesis Testing II

Hypothesis Testing II
Ma. Louise De Las Penas, Phd
Ateneo de Manila University
Philippines

LEVEL

University

OBJECTIVES

In this paper, we study hypothesis testing about the mean with the aid of the graphics
calculator.

Corresponding eActivity

hypotest.g1e

OVERVIEW

Statistical inference is concerned with how we draw conclusions from sample data about
the larger population from which the sample has been selected. Hypothesis testing is
one branch of statistical inference wherein we test a certain given theory or belief about
a population parameter. We want to find out using sample information, whether or not a
given claim about a population parameter is true.

In this paper, we study how to make tests of hypothesis about the population mean using
the t distribution with the aid of the graphics calculator.

ACTIVITIES

Example. A past study claims that adults in America spend an average of 18 hours a
week on leisure activities. A researcher wanted to test this claim. She took a sample of 10
adults and asked them about the time they spend per week on leisure activities. Their
responses(in hours) are as follows:
14

25

22

38

16

26

19

23

41

33

Assume that the times spent on leisure activities by all adults are normally distributed.
Using the 5% significance level, can you conclude that the claim of the earlier study is
true?

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Hypothesis Testing II

Solution:
Let

= 18 hours be the mean hours adults in America spend a week on leisure activities.

Let x be the corresponding mean for the sample.

We are to test if the mean hours adults in America spend on leisure activities is 18 hours.
Our null and alternative hypotheses are stated as follows:
Null hypothesis: H 0 : 0 = 18 (the mean hours adults in America spend a week on leisure
activities is 18 hours)
Alternative hypothesis: H1 : 18 (the mean hours adults in America spend a week on
leisure activities is different from 18 hours)
In the Stat Editor, we enter the data in List 1 as follows:

In the Screen dumps given above, note that one of the menu items is [TEST]. Selecting
this menu will reveal that there are several tests available. We choose the t test [t],
particularly the one-sample t test [1-S]:

Usually, the conditions under which the t distribution is used to make tests of hypothesis
about are the following:
1. if the sample size is not so large (oftentimes less than 30),
2. the population standard deviation is unknown and
3. the population from which the sample is drawn is normally distributed.
We enter the value

0 = 18 , the alternative hypothesis 0

and indicate that our data

appears in List 1. Then we press [Execute]:

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Hypothesis Testing II

When the test is executed, we are given the calculations [CALC] and the graph[DRAW].

The mean for the sample is x = 25.7, and the population standard deviation x n-1 is
9.0437. The value of the test statistic is t = 2.692.
Now, we determine the rejection and non-rejection regions. The significance level a is
0.05. The sign in the alternative hypothesis indicates that the test is two tailed with two
rejection regions, one in each tail of the t distribution curve of x . Because the total area
of both rejection regions is 0.05, the area of the rejection region in each tail is 0.025. The
degrees of freedom is n -1 = 9 , (where n is the sample size). Two critical points separate
the two rejection regions from the non-rejection region. From the t distribution table, the
critical points are 2.262 and -2.262.
The value of the test statistic t = 2.692 falls in the right tail, after the critical value 2.262,
which is part of the rejection region. Consequently, we reject H0. We conclude that the
mean hours adults in America spend a week on leisure activities is not 18 hours.
The graph, showing the test is two tailed is given below. We enter [T] to visualize the
test statistic:

EXERCISES:
1. A company claims that its eightounce low-fat yogurt cups contain, on average at most
150 calories per cup. A consumer agency wanted to check whether or not this claim is
true. A random sample of 10 cups produced the following data on calories.
147

159

153

146

144

161

163

153

143

158

Test at the 2.5% significance level whether the companys claim is true. Assume that the
number of calories for such cups of yogurt produced by this company has an
approximately normal distribution.
2. Records of a grocery store show that its customers spend an average of $65 per visit
at this store. Recently, the store manager started a promotion to encourage more
customers to spend more money at the store: each customer receives points based on

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Hypothesis Testing II

the total money spent at the store, and these points can be exchanged for products at the
store. To check whether the promotion is working, the manager took a sample of 12
customers who visited the store. The following data gives the money in dollars spent by
these customers at the supermarket during their visits:
90

67

150

27

102

41

34

55

74

58

120

82

Assume that the money spent by all customers at this grocery store has a normal
distribution. Using the 1% significance level, can you conclude that the mean amount of
money spent by all customers at this grocery store after the campaign was started is
more than $65?

SOLUTIONS:
Exercise 1.
We are to test if eightounce low-fat yogurt cups contain, on average at most 150
calories per cup. Our null and alternative hypothesis are stated as follows:
Null hypothesis: H 0 : 150 (the mean calories per cup is at most 150 calories)
Alternative hypothesis: H1 : > 150 (the mean calories per cup is greater than 150
calories)
After entering the data in List 1 of the Stat Editor, we enter the following information after
accessing [Test]: (ignore the error message by pressing EXIT)

We enter the value

0 = 150 ,

the alternative hypothesis

> 150

and indicate that our

data appears in List 1.

Our calculations yield the following result:

The mean for the sample is x = 152.7, and the population standard deviation x n-1 is
7.3794.
The value of the test statistic is t = 1.1570248.

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Hypothesis Testing II

In this exercise, the significance level a is 0.025. The > sign in the alternative hypothesis
indicates that the test is right tailed and the rejection region lies in the right tail of the t
distribution curve. The area in the right tail is 0.025 and the degrees of freedom is n -1 =
9. From the t distribution table, the critical value of t for 9 degrees of freedom and 0.025
area in the right tail is 2.262.
The test statistic is 1.1570248 and is less than the critical value 2.262, obtained from the
t distribution table. It falls outside of the rejection region. Consequently, we accept H0.
Thus, we conclude that the mean calories per cup of an eight ounce low-fat yogurt is at
most 150 calories.
We give below the screen dumps which illustrate the test statistic and the fact that the
test is right tailed.

Exercise 2.
For this exercise, we are to test if the mean amount of money spent by all customers at
the grocery after the campaign was started is more than $65. Our null and alternative
hypotheses are stated as follows:
Null hypothesis: H 0 : > 65 (the mean amount of money is more than 65)
Alternative hypothesis: H1 : < 65 (the mean calories per cup is greater than 150
calories)
In the Stat Editor, we enter the value 0 = 65 , the alternative hypothesis < 65 and
indicate that our data appears in List 1, after accessing [TEST].

The calculations are as follows:

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Hypothesis Testing II

The mean for the sample is x = 75, and the population standard deviation x n-1 is
36.366818. The value of the test statistic is t = 0.9525446.
The significance level is 0.01. The < sign in the alternative hypothesis indicates that the
test is left-tailed with the rejection region in the left tail of the t distribution curve. To find
the critical value of t, we need to know the area in the left tail and the degrees of freedom.
Now, the area in the left tail is 0.01, and the degrees of freedom is given by n -1 =12-1
=11. From the t distribution table, the critical value of t is -2.718. The value of t is
0.9525446 is greater than -2.718 and falls outside the rejected region. Therefore, we
accept H0 and conclude that the mean amount of money spent by all customers at this
grocery store after the campaign was started is more than $65.
The screen dumps below show the test statistic and the fact that the test is left tailed.

REFERENCE

[1] Introductory Statistics, Fifth Edition, Mann, Prem, 2004, John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
USA.

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