Edexcel S3 2018 June — Question 1

Exam BoardEdexcel
ModuleS3 (Statistics 3)
Year2018
SessionJune
TopicHypothesis test of Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient

  1. Phil measures the concentration of a radioactive element, \(c\), and the amount of dissolved solids, \(a\), of 8 random samples of groundwater. His results are shown in the table below.
Sample\(A\)\(B\)\(C\)\(D\)\(E\)\(F\)\(G\)\(H\)
\(c\)625700650645720600825665
\(a\)1.281.301.001.201.551.151.401.45
Given that $$\mathrm { S } _ { c c } = 34787.5 \quad \mathrm {~S} _ { a a } = 0.2172875 \quad \mathrm {~S} _ { c a } = 47.7625$$
  1. calculate, to 3 decimal places, the product moment correlation coefficient between the concentration of the radioactive element and the amount of dissolved solids for these groundwater samples.
  2. Use your value of the product moment correlation coefficient to test whether or not there is evidence of a positive correlation between the concentration of this radioactive element and the amount of dissolved solids in groundwater. Use a \(5 \%\) significance level. State your hypotheses clearly.
  3. Calculate, to 3 decimal places, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient between the concentration of the radioactive element and the amount of dissolved solids.
  4. Use your value of Spearman's rank correlation coefficient to test for evidence of a positive correlation between the concentration of the radioactive element and the amount of dissolved solids. Use a \(5 \%\) significance level. State your hypotheses clearly.
  5. Using your conclusions in part (b) and part (d), comment on the possible relationship between these variables.