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MATH 1281-01 Statistical Inference - AY2025-T4

Math Assignment Unit 4

Instructor: Ankita Devdhara

May 8, 2025
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Part 1

Hypothesis Testing for Reading and Writing Scores

The research question asks whether there is an evident difference in the average scores between

the reading and writing exams. The appropriate hypotheses are:

Null Hypothesis (H₀): There is no difference in the average scores between the reading and

writing exams.

H₀: μ_read = μ_write

Alternative Hypothesis (H₁): There is a difference in the average scores between the reading

and writing exams.

H₁: μ_read ≠ μ_write

This is a two-tailed hypothesis because we are testing for a difference, not specifically whether

one is higher than the other.

(b) Conditions required to complete the test

To perform a t-test, we need to check the following conditions:

Random Condition: The data comes from a random sample. The problem states "A random

sample of 250 students was examined," so this condition is met.

10% Condition (Independence): The sample size should be less than 10% of the population.

Since we are sampling high school seniors, we assume there are more than 2500 high school
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seniors (250 * 10 = 2500). So, the sample is less than 10% of the population, and this condition

is met.

Normal Condition: The data should be approximately normally distributed. We can check this

in two ways:

 Large Sample Size: Since the sample size is 250, which is greater than 30, we can invoke

the Central Limit Theorem. The distribution of sample means will be approximately

normal, even if the population is not perfectly normal.

 Check the Histogram: The histogram of the differences in scores is provided. While it's

not perfectly normal, it doesn't show any extreme skewness or outliers that would prevent

us from using the t-test.

(c) T-test, Degrees of Freedom, and Conclusion:

T-test: The formula for the t-test is: t = (x̄ - μ) / (s / √n), where x̄ is the sample mean, μ is the

population mean (from the null hypothesis), s is the sample standard deviation, and n is the

sample size.

In this case:

 x̄ = -0.545

 μ = 0 (from the null hypothesis)

 s = 8.887

 n = 250

So, t = (-0.545 - 0) / (8.887 / √250) = -0.545 / (8.887 / 15.811) = -0.545 / 0.562 = -0.97
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Degrees of Freedom: The degrees of freedom for a one-sample t-test are calculated as n - 1.

In this case, df = 250 - 1 = 249.

Conclusion: The p-value is given as 0.39. Since the p-value (0.39) is greater than the typical

significance level of 0.05, we fail to reject the null hypothesis.

(d) Type of Error:

Since we failed to reject the null hypothesis, but there might actually be a difference between the

reading and writing scores, we could have made a Type II error.

 Type II Error: A Type II error occurs when we fail to reject a false null hypothesis. In

simpler terms, we concluded there was no difference when there actually was one.

 In the context of the application: We might have concluded that there is no difference in

the average reading and writing scores of high school seniors, when in reality, there is a

difference. This could lead to overlooking potential issues in curriculum or teaching

methods that might affect one subject more than the other.

(e) Confidence Interval:

Since we failed to reject the null hypothesis and the p-value is large (0.39), the confidence

interval for the average difference would likely include 0, suggesting no significant difference
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Part 2

(1) Hypothesis

Null Hypothesis (H0): There is no difference in the average fuel efficiency (city MPG) between

cars with manual and automatic transmissions.

lternative Hypothesis (H1): There is a difference in the average fuel efficiency (city MPG)

between cars with manual and automatic transmissions.

H₀: μ₁ = μ₂ (no difference in average city MPG)

H₁: μ₁ ≠ μ₂ (a difference in average city MPG)

(2) Calculate the T-statistic:

To calculate the t-statistic for a two-sample t-test, we use the following formula:

t = (x̄ ₁ - x̄ ₂) / √((s₁²/n₁) + (s₂²/n₂))

Where:

 x̄ ₁ is the sample mean of group 1 (manual) = 19.85

 x̄ ₂ is the sample mean of group 2 (automatic) = 16.12

 s₁ is the sample standard deviation of group 1 (manual) = 4.51

 s₂ is the sample standard deviation of group 2 (automatic) = 3.58

 n₁ is the sample size of group 1 (manual) = 26

 n₂ is the sample size of group 2 (automatic) = 26

t = (19.85 - 16.12) / √((4.51²/26) + (3.58²/26))

t = 3.73 / √((20.3401/26) + (12.8164/26))

t = 3.73 / √(0.7823 + 0.4929)

t = 3.73 / √1.2752

t = 3.73 / 1.129

t ≈ 3.304

Therefore, the t-statistic is approximately 3.304.

(3) Calculate the degrees of freedom

Formula:

df = ( (s₁²/n₁) + (s₂²/n₂) )² / ( ( (s₁²/n₁)² / (n₁ - 1) ) + ( (s₂²/n₂)² / (n₂ - 1) ) )

Where:

 s₁ (Manual) = 4.51

 n₁ (Manual) = 26

 s₂ (Automatic) = 3.58

 n₂ (Automatic) = 26

df = ((4.51²/26) + (3.58²/26))² / ( ((4.51²/26)² / (26-1)) + ((3.58²/26)² / (26-1)) )

df = ( (20.3401/26) + (12.8164/26) )² / ( ((20.3401/26)² / 25) + ((12.8164/26)² / 25) )

df = (0.782 + 0.493)² / ( (0.782² / 25) + (0.493² / 25) )

df = (1.275)² / ( (0.6115 / 25) + (0.243 / 25) )

df = 1.6256 / (0.02446 + 0.00972)

df = 1.6256 / 0.03418

df ≈ 47.56

Therefore, the df ≈ 47

(4) Conclusion:

Given the p-value = 0.0029 < 0.05, we reject the null hypothesis. There is strong evidence of a

difference in average city MPG between cars with manual and automatic transmissions.

Reference
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Diez, D. M., Barr, C. D., & Çetinkaya-Rundel, M. (2019). OpenIntro Statistics (4th ed.).

OpenIntro. https://www.openintro.org/book/os/