PROBLEM SHEET – 1

1. Nine hundred (900) high school freshmen were randomly selected for a national survey.
Among survey participants, the mean grade-point average (GPA) was 2.7, and the
standard deviation was 0.4. What is the margin of error, assuming a 95% confidence
level?
2. The Acme Company has developed a new battery. The engineer in charge claims that the
new battery will operate continuously for at least 7 minutes longer than the old battery.
To test the claim, the company selects a simple random sample of 100 new batteries and
100 old batteries. The old batteries run continuously for 190 minutes with a standard
deviation of 20 minutes; the new batteries, 200 minutes with a standard deviation of 40
minutes. Test the engineer's claim that the new batteries run at least 7 minutes longer than
the old. Use a 0.05 level of significance. (Assume that there are no outliers in either
sample.)
3. Suppose we want to estimate the average weight of an adult male in Dekalb County,
Georgia. We draw a random sample of 1,000 men from a population of 1,000,000 men
and weigh them. We find that the average man in our sample weighs 180 pounds, and the
standard deviation of the sample is 30 pounds. What is the 95% confidence interval?
4. How to Interpret Confidence Intervals.
5. A major metropolitan newspaper selected a simple random sample of 1,600 readers from
their list of 100,000 subscribers. They asked whether the paper should increase its
coverage of local news. Forty percent of the sample wanted more local news. What is the
99% confidence interval for the proportion of readers who would like more coverage of
local news?
6. Suppose the Cartoon Network conducts a nation-wide survey to assess viewer attitudes
toward Superman. Using a simple random sample, they select 400 boys and 300 girls to
participate in the study. Forty percent of the boys say that Superman is their favorite
character, compared to thirty percent of the girls. What is the 90% confidence interval for
the true difference in attitudes toward Superman?
7. Within a school district, students were randomly assigned to one of two Math teachers -
Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Jones. After the assignment, Mrs. Smith had 30 students, and Mrs.
Jones had 25 students. At the end of the year, each class took the same standardized test.
Mrs. Smith's students had an average test score of 78, with a standard deviation of 10;
and Mrs. Jones' students had an average test score of 85, with a standard deviation of 15.
Test the hypothesis that Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Jones are equally effective teachers. Use a
0.10 level of significance. (Assume that student performance is approximately normal.)
8. Suppose the Acme Drug Company develops a new drug, designed to prevent colds. The
company states that the drug is equally effective for men and women. To test this claim,
they choose a simple random sample of 100 women and 200 men from a population of
100,000 volunteers. At the end of the study, 38% of the women caught a cold; and 51% of
the men caught a cold. Based on these findings, can we reject the company's claim that
the drug is equally effective for men and women? Use a 0.05 level of significance.
9. Suppose a simple random sample of 150 students is drawn from a population of 3000
college students. Among sampled students, the average IQ score is 115 with a standard
deviation of 10. What is the 99% confidence interval for the students' IQ score?
10. The local baseball team conducts a study to find the amount spent on refreshments at the
ball park. Over the course of the season they gather simple random samples of 50 men
and 100 women. For men, the average expenditure was $20, with a standard deviation of
$3. For women, it was $15, with a standard deviation of $2.What is the 99% confidence
interval for the spending difference between men and women? Assume that the two
populations are independent and normally distributed.
11. Suppose that simple random samples of college freshman are selected from two
universities - 15 students from school A and 20 students from school B. On a
standardized test, the sample from school A has an average score of 1000 with a standard
deviation of 100. The sample from school B has an average score of 950 with a standard
deviation of 90.What is the 90% confidence interval for the difference in test scores at the
two schools, assuming that test scores came from normal distributions in both schools?
12. An inventor has developed a new, energy-efficient lawn mower engine. He claims that
the engine will run continuously for 5 hours (300 minutes) on a single gallon of regular
gasoline. Suppose a simple random sample of 50 engines is tested. The engines run for an
average of 295 minutes, with a standard deviation of 20 minutes. Test his claim. Use a
0.05 level of significance. (Assume that run times for the population of engines are
normally distributed.)
13. Bon Air Elementary School has 300 students. The principal of the school thinks that the
average IQ of students at Bon Air is at least 110. To prove her point, she administers an
IQ test to 20 randomly selected students. Among the sampled students, the average IQ is
108 with a standard deviation of 10. Based on these results, should the principal accept or
reject her original hypothesis? Assume a significance level of 0.01.
14. Why do decision makers often measure samples rather than entire populations?
15. Is the confidence level for an estimate based on the interval constructed from a single
sample? How significance level differs from confidence level?
16. A large manufacturing firm is being charged with discrimination in its hiring practices.
What hypothesis is being tested if a jury commits a type I error by finding the firm
guilty? Why?
17. Under what conditions is it appropriate to use a one – tailed test? A two – tailed test?
18. How does an estimate differ from estimator? State the desirable properties of a good
estimator.
19. In a sample of 600 parts manufactured by a factory the number of defective parts was
found to be 45. The company however claimed that only 5% of their product is defective.
Is the claim acceptable?
20. In a sample of 600 parts manufactured by a factory, the number of defective parts found
to be 45. The company however claimed that only 5% of their product is defective. Is the
claim tenable
21. Sky packets Managing director says with 95% confidence that there has been a
significant improvement in deliveries based on a sample of 81 deliveries out of which 6
were late. If in general 10% of deliveries were late in the part should Managing
Director’s statement be accepted?
22. Out of 20000 customers ledger accounts a sample of 600 accounts was taken to test the
accuracy of posting and balancing where in 45 mistakes were found. Assign the limits
with in which the number of defective cases can be expected at 98% level.
23. In a certain city 380 men out of 800 are found to be smokers. Discuss whether this
information supports the view that majority of men in this city are non smokers?
24. An ambulance service claims that it takes on the average 8.9 minutes to reach its
destination in emergency calls. To check an this claim the agency which licenses
ambulance services has then timed 50 emergency calls getting a mean of 9.3 minutes with
a standard deviation of 1.8 minutes. At the level of significance 0.05, does this constitute
evidence that the figure claimed is too low?
25. For a random sample of size 900 the mean is 3.4 and SD is 2.61. Is it reasonable to
assume that this sample came from a normal population with mean greater than 3.25?
26. A sample of 144 bricks has a mean weight 7.1 pounds and standard deviation of 0.30
pounds. Is it likely that this sample comes from a brick yard that produces bricks with a
mean weight 7 pounds?
27. A manufacturer of ball pens claims that a certain pen he manufactures has a mean writing
life of 400 pages with a standard deviation of 20 pages. A purchasing agent selects a
sample of 100 pens and puts them for test. The mean writing life for the sample was 390
pages. Should the purchasing agent reject the manufactures claims 5% level? Ans: 5
28. An automatic machine fills in tea in sealed tins with mean weight of tea 1 Kg and SD 1
Gm. A random sample of 50 tins was examined and it was found that their mean weight
was 999.50 gms. Is the machine working property?
29. A machine is designed to produce insulating washers for electrical devices of average
thickness of 0.025cm. A random sample of 10 washers was found to have an average
thickness of 0.024cm with a SD of 0.002cm. Test the significance of the deviation. Ans:
1.5
30. A filling machine is expected to fill 5Kg of powder into bags. A sample of 10 bags gave
the weights 4.7, 4.9, 5.0, 5.1, 5.4, 5.2, 4.6, 5.1, 4.6 and 4.7. Test whether the machine is
working properly at 5% significance level.
31. Can a false hypothesis be accepted? How can this be explained
32. Compare Student’s distribution and normal distribution? Show it graphically
33. How is estimation theory helpful in decision making?