15.

5 A car importer believes that black-coloured cars are more often chosen by male buyers than by
females. A survey is conducted to ask, ‘Do you prefer black-coloured cars?’ The survey results are
available only as percentages and no sample sizes were given.

a. Assume that 50 men and 50 women were included in the survey. At the 0.05 level of significance,
is there a difference between males and females in the proportion of people who prefer black-
coloured cars?

b. Assume that 200 men and 200 women were included in the survey. At the 0.05 level of
significance, is there a difference between males and females in the proportion of people who prefer
black-coloured cars?

c. Discuss the effect of sample size on the chi-square test.

15.6 In a study of share market investments, a sample of 334 Chinese and 116 Japanese business
executives were asked, ‘Do you privately own shares on the stock market?’ It is expected that the
longer history of free-market activity in Japan compared with China will show that Japanese
executives are more likely to own shares. The contingency table below presents the survey results

a. At the 0.05 level of significance, is there a significant difference between the proportion of share
ownership between Chinese and Japanese executives?

15.9 Non-response to mail, telephone and interview surveys is a continual problem for researchers.
The problem is knowing whether the individuals who do not respond form a separate subsample of
the population. If they do, then the data collected are biased because they do not represent this
subsample of respondents. A common method of increasing survey response percentages is to
collect a smaller, directed sample by interview at a prearranged appointment. Another way of
increasing the response rate is to offer a prize draw (although the anonymity of respondents then
becomes an issue). To test whether offering a prize is effective in increasing the response rate, two
groups of financial planners are surveyed by mail, one in Adelaide without offering a prize and one in
Perth where a lucky prize draw for a high-quality laptop computer, valued at $1,675, is offered. The
results are given in the following table:
a. Is there a difference between the two treatment groups in the proportion of responses to the
survey at the 0.05 level of significance?

15.13 A survey was conducted in five countries. The percentages of respondents whose household
members own more than one laptop computer are as follows :

Australia 53% New Zealand 48% China 38% Japan 54% South Korea 49%

Suppose that the survey was based on 500 respondents in each country.

a. At the 0.05 level of significance, determine whether there is a significant difference in the
proportion of households who own more than one laptop computer.

b. If appropriate, use the Marascuilo procedure and α = 0.05 to determine which countries are
different. Discuss your results.

15.14 Although online grocery shopping is now possible, supermarket shopping is still the most
common method that Australians use to buy their groceries. Assume that a market research
company examining supermarket operations throughout the week interviewed shoppers who buy
groceries in person in order to find out whether their major grocery shopping day is Saturday or
another day. Shoppers were separated into three different age categories.

Assume that 200 shoppers for each age category were surveyed.

a. Is there evidence of a significant difference between the age groups with respect to major grocery
shopping day? (Use α = 0.05.)

c. If appropriate, use the Marascuilo procedure and α = 0.05 to determine which age groups are
different. Discuss your results.

d. Discuss the managerial implications of (a) and (b). How can supermarkets use this information to
improve marketing and sales? Be specific

15.18 The availability of free WiFi Internet connections in hotel rooms varies considerably with the
luxury level of the hotel and the country. Despite changing attitudes to the necessity of providing
free WiFi access, many upmarket hotels are still charging guests to use WiFi in their rooms. A survey
was developed which kept the hotel type similar. From data collected by Syba Computing at 100 mid-
range hotels in each of five countries, the following results were obtained.
a. At the 0.025 level of statistical significance, determine whether there is a difference in the
availability of free in-room WiFi between these countries.

b. marascuilo procedure

15.26 A 2011 study by Anna Mieczakowski, Tanya Goldhaber and John Clarkson investigated
communication preferences in four countries. The responses for four communication methods have
been cross-tabulated in the following table.

At the 0.01 level of significance, is there evidence of a significant relationship between country and
type of preferred communication as shown in the study?

15.27 Managed funds provide the individual investor with a convenient medium for diversification. A
managed fund spreads its investment over numerous securities, so that individuals who purchase a
share in a managed fund are investing in a highly diversified portfolio, something they could not
achieve on their own with limited funds. Managed funds tailor their diversification strategies to
different investor groups. There are capital growth funds, current income funds, equity funds, bond
funds and so on. The table below lists the level of return over five years for a sample of investors for
various categories of managed funds.

a. Determine at the 0.05 level of significance if there is evidence of a significant relationship between
the level of return and the type of managed fund.

b. What does this finding say about managed fund investment?