5.05c Hypothesis test: normal distribution for population mean

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CAIE Further Paper 4 2024 November Q5
9 marks Challenging +1.2
5 Dev owns a small company which produces bottles of juice. He uses two machines, \(X\) and \(Y\), to fill empty bottles with juice. Dev is investigating the volumes of juice in the bottles. He chooses a random sample of 35 bottles filled by machine \(X\) and a random sample of 60 bottles filled by machine \(Y\). The volumes of juice, \(x\) and \(y\) respectively, measured in suitable units, are summarised by $$\sum x = 30.8 , \quad \sum x ^ { 2 } = 29.0 , \quad \sum y = 62.4 , \quad \sum y ^ { 2 } = 76.8 .$$ Dev claims that the mean volume of juice in bottles filled by machine \(Y\) is greater than the mean volume of juice in bottles filled by machine \(X\). A test at the \(\alpha \%\) significance level suggests that there is sufficient evidence to support Dev's claim. Find the set of possible values of \(\alpha\). \includegraphics[max width=\textwidth, alt={}, center]{b9cbf607-4f40-41bb-8374-6b2c39f945ac-10_2717_33_109_2014} \includegraphics[max width=\textwidth, alt={}, center]{b9cbf607-4f40-41bb-8374-6b2c39f945ac-11_2726_35_97_20}
CAIE Further Paper 4 2024 November Q6
8 marks Standard +0.3
6 Ansal is investigating the wingspans of Monarch butterflies in two different regions, \(X\) and \(Y\). He takes a random sample of 8 Monarch butterflies from region \(X\) and records their wingspans, \(x \mathrm {~cm}\). His results are as follows. $$\begin{array} { l l l l l l l l } 8.2 & 7.0 & 7.3 & 8.8 & 7.8 & 8.5 & 9.2 & 7.4 \end{array}$$ Ansal also takes a random sample of 9 Monarch butterflies from region \(Y\) and records their wingspans, \(y \mathrm {~cm}\). His results are summarised as follows. $$\sum y = 71.10 \quad \sum y ^ { 2 } = 567.13$$ Ansal suspects that the mean wingspan of Monarch butterflies from region \(X\) is greater than the mean wingspan of Monarch butterflies from region \(Y\). It is known that the wingspans of Monarch butterflies in regions \(X\) and \(Y\) are normally distributed with equal population variances. Test, at the 10\% significance level, whether Ansal's suspicion is supported by the data. \includegraphics[max width=\textwidth, alt={}, center]{8b2a13d7-62f4-45a7-84c5-7d5bc870b8ce-12_2715_44_110_2006} \includegraphics[max width=\textwidth, alt={}, center]{8b2a13d7-62f4-45a7-84c5-7d5bc870b8ce-13_2726_35_97_20}
If you use the following page to complete the answer to any question, the question number must be clearly shown. \includegraphics[max width=\textwidth, alt={}, center]{8b2a13d7-62f4-45a7-84c5-7d5bc870b8ce-14_2714_38_109_2010}
OCR S2 2005 June Q4
9 marks Moderate -0.3
4 The height of sweet pea plants grown in a nursery is a random variable. A random sample of 50 plants is measured and is found to have a mean height 1.72 m and variance \(0.0967 \mathrm {~m} ^ { 2 }\).
  1. Calculate an unbiased estimate for the population variance of the heights of sweet pea plants.
  2. Hence test, at the \(10 \%\) significance level, whether the mean height of sweet pea plants grown by the nursery is 1.8 m , stating your hypotheses clearly.
OCR S2 2006 June Q2
7 marks Standard +0.3
2
  1. The random variable \(R\) has the distribution \(\mathrm { B } ( 6 , p )\). A random observation of \(R\) is found to be 6. Carry out a \(5 \%\) significance test of the null hypothesis \(\mathrm { H } _ { 0 } : p = 0.45\) against the alternative hypothesis \(\mathrm { H } _ { 1 } : p \neq 0.45\), showing all necessary details of your calculation.
  2. The random variable \(S\) has the distribution \(\mathrm { B } ( n , p ) . \mathrm { H } _ { 0 }\) and \(\mathrm { H } _ { 1 }\) are as in part (i). A random observation of \(S\) is found to be 1 . Use tables to find the largest value of \(n\) for which \(\mathrm { H } _ { 0 }\) is not rejected. Show the values of any relevant probabilities.
OCR S2 2007 June Q8
13 marks Standard +0.3
8 A random variable \(Y\) is normally distributed with mean \(\mu\) and variance 12.25. Two statisticians carry out significance tests of the hypotheses \(\mathrm { H } _ { 0 } : \mu = 63.0 , \mathrm { H } _ { 1 } : \mu > 63.0\).
  1. Statistician \(A\) uses the mean \(\bar { Y }\) of a sample of size 23, and the critical region for his test is \(\bar { Y } > 64.20\). Find the significance level for \(A\) 's test.
  2. Statistician \(B\) uses the mean of a sample of size 50 and a significance level of \(5 \%\).
    1. Find the critical region for \(B\) 's test.
    2. Given that \(\mu = 65.0\), find the probability that \(B\) 's test results in a Type II error.
    3. Given that, when \(\mu = 65.0\), the probability that \(A\) 's test results in a Type II error is 0.1365 , state with a reason which test is better.
OCR S2 2014 June Q7
15 marks Standard +0.3
7 An examination board is developing a new syllabus and wants to know if the question papers are the right length. A random sample of 50 candidates was given a pre-test on a dummy paper. The times, \(t\) minutes, taken by these candidates to complete the paper can be summarised by \(n = 50\), \(\sum \boldsymbol { t } = \mathbf { 4 0 5 0 }\), \(\sum \boldsymbol { t } ^ { \mathbf { 2 } } \boldsymbol { = } \mathbf { 3 2 9 8 0 0 }\).
Assume that times are normally distributed.
[0pt]
  1. Estimate the proportion of candidates that could not complete the paper within 90 minutes. [6]
  2. Test, at the \(10 \%\) significance level, whether the mean time for all candidates to complete this paper is \(\mathbf { 8 0 }\) minutes. Use a two-tail test. [7]
  3. Explain whether the assumption that times are normally distributed is necessary in answering
    1. part (i),
      [0pt]
    2. part (ii). [2]
OCR S2 Specimen Q5
10 marks Standard +0.3
5 The mean solubility rating of widgets inserted into beer cans is thought to be 84.0, in appropriate units. A random sample of 50 widgets is taken. The solubility ratings, \(x\), are summarised by $$n = 50 , \quad \Sigma x = 4070 , \quad \Sigma x ^ { 2 } = 336100$$ Test, at the \(5 \%\) significance level, whether the mean solubility rating is less than 84.0 .
OCR S3 2006 January Q2
9 marks Standard +0.3
2 A particular type of engine used in rockets is designed to have a mean lifetime of at least 2000 hours. A check of four randomly chosen engines yielded the following lifetimes in hours. $$\begin{array} { l l l l } 1896.4 & 2131.5 & 1903.3 & 1901.6 \end{array}$$ A significance test of whether engines meet the design is carried out. It may be assumed that lifetimes have a normal distribution.
  1. Give a reason why a \(t\)-test should be used.
  2. Carry out the test at the \(10 \%\) significance level.
OCR S3 2006 January Q6
13 marks Standard +0.3
6 A company with a large fleet of cars compared two types of tyres, \(A\) and \(B\). They measured the stopping distances of cars when travelling at a fixed speed on a dry road. They selected 20 cars at random from the fleet and divided them randomly into two groups of 10 , one group being fitted with tyres of type \(A\) and the other group with tyres of type \(B\). One of the cars fitted with tyres of type \(A\) broke down so these tyres were tested on only 9 cars. The stopping distances, \(x\) metres, for the two samples are summarised by $$n _ { A } = 9 , \quad \bar { x } _ { A } = 17.30 , \quad s _ { A } ^ { 2 } = 0.7400 , \quad n _ { B } = 10 , \quad \bar { x } _ { B } = 14.74 , \quad s _ { B } ^ { 2 } = 0.8160 ,$$ where \(s _ { A } ^ { 2 }\) and \(s _ { B } ^ { 2 }\) are unbiased estimates of the two population variances.
It is given that the two populations have the same variance.
  1. Show that an unbiased estimate of this variance is 0.780 , correct to 3 decimal places. The population mean stopping distances for cars with tyres of types \(A\) and \(B\) are denoted by \(\mu _ { A }\) metres and \(\mu _ { B }\) metres respectively.
  2. Stating any further assumption you need to make, calculate a \(98 \%\) confidence interval for \(\mu _ { A } - \mu _ { B }\). The manufacturers of Type \(B\) tyres assert that \(\mu _ { B } < \mu _ { A } - 2\).
  3. Carry out a significance test of this assertion at the \(5 \%\) significance level. \section*{[Question 7 is printed overleaf.]}
OCR S3 2007 January Q3
10 marks Standard +0.3
3 A new treatment of cotton thread, designed to increase the breaking strength, was tested on a random sample of 6 pieces of a standard length. The breaking strengths, in grams, were as follows. $$\begin{array} { l l l l l l } 17.3 & 18.4 & 18.6 & 17.2 & 17.5 & 19.3 \end{array}$$ The breaking strengths of a random sample of 5 similar pieces of the thread which had not been treated were as follows. \section*{\(\begin{array} { l l l l l } 18.6 & 17.2 & 16.3 & 17.4 & 16.8 \end{array}\)} A test of whether the treatment has been successful is to be carried out.
  1. State what distributional assumptions are needed.
  2. Carry out the test at the \(10 \%\) significance level.
OCR S3 2007 January Q4
10 marks Standard +0.3
4 A machine is set to produce metal discs with mean diameter 15.4 mm . In order to test the correctness of the setting, a random sample of 12 discs was selected and the diameters, \(x \mathrm {~mm}\), were measured. The results are summarised by \(\Sigma x = 177.6\) and \(\Sigma x ^ { 2 } = 2640.40\). Diameters may be assumed to be normally distributed with mean \(\mu \mathrm { mm }\).
  1. Find a \(95 \%\) confidence interval for \(\mu\).
  2. Test, at the \(5 \%\) significance level, the null hypothesis \(\mu = 15.4\) against the alternative hypothesis \(\mu < 15.4\).
OCR S3 2008 January Q3
9 marks Standard +0.3
3 A transport authority wished to compare the performance of two rail companies, Western and Northern. They noted that the number of 'on-time' arrivals for a random sample of 80 Western trains over a particular route was 71 . The corresponding number for a random sample of 90 Northern trains over a similar route was 73 .
  1. Test, at the \(5 \%\) significance level, whether the population proportion of on-time Western trains exceeds the population proportion of on-time Northern trains.
  2. Ranjit wishes to test whether the population proportion of on-time Western trains exceeds the population proportion of on-time Northern trains by more than 0.01 . What variance estimate should she use?
OCR S3 2011 January Q4
7 marks Standard +0.8
4 A study in 1981 investigated the effect of water fluoridation on children's dental health. In a town with fluoridation, 61 out of a random sample of 107 children showed signs of increased tooth decay after six months. In a town without fluoridation the corresponding number was 106 out of a random sample of 143 children. The population proportions of children with increased tooth decay are denoted by \(p _ { 1 }\) and \(p _ { 2 }\) for the towns with fluoridation and without fluoridation respectively. A test is carried out of the null hypothesis \(p _ { 1 } = p _ { 2 }\) against the alternative hypothesis \(p _ { 1 } < p _ { 2 }\). Find the smallest significance level at which the null hypothesis is rejected.
OCR S3 2011 January Q8
16 marks Standard +0.3
8
  1. State circumstances under which it would be necessary to calculate a pooled estimate of variance when carrying out a two-sample hypothesis test.
  2. An investigation into whether passive smoking affects lung capacity considered a random sample of 20 children whose parents did not smoke and a random sample of 22 children whose parents did smoke. None of the children themselves smoked. The lung capacity, in litres, of each child was measured and the results are summarised as follows. For the children whose parents did not smoke: \(n _ { 1 } = 20 , \Sigma x _ { 1 } = 42.4\) and \(\Sigma x _ { 1 } ^ { 2 } = 90.43\).
    For the children whose parents did smoke: \(\quad n _ { 2 } = 22 , \Sigma x _ { 2 } = 42.5\) and \(\Sigma x _ { 2 } ^ { 2 } = 82.93\).
    The means of the two populations are denoted by \(\mu _ { 1 }\) and \(\mu _ { 2 }\) respectively.
    1. State conditions for which a \(t\)-test would be appropriate for testing whether \(\mu _ { 1 }\) exceeds \(\mu _ { 2 }\).
    2. Assuming the conditions are valid, carry out the test at the \(1 \%\) significance level and comment on the result.
    3. Calculate a 99\% confidence interval for \(\mu _ { 1 } - \mu _ { 2 }\).
OCR S3 2006 June Q3
7 marks Standard +0.3
3 Ten randomly chosen athletes were coached for a 200 m event. For each athlete, the times taken to run 200 m before and after coaching were measured. The sample mean times before and after coaching were 23.43 seconds and 22.84 seconds respectively. For each athlete the difference, \(d\) seconds, in the times before and after coaching was calculated and an unbiased estimate of the population variance of \(d\) was found to be 0.548 . Stating any required assumption, test at the \(5 \%\) significance level whether the population mean time for the 200 m run decreased after coaching.
OCR S3 2006 June Q6
11 marks Standard +0.3
6 An anthropologist was studying the inhabitants of two islands, Raloa and Tangi. Part of the study involved the incidence of blood group type A. The blood of 80 randomly chosen inhabitants of Raloa and 85 randomly chosen inhabitants of Tangi was tested. The number of inhabitants with type A blood was 28 for the Raloa sample and 46 for the Tangi sample. The anthropologist calculated \(90 \%\) confidence intervals for the population proportions of inhabitants with type A blood. They were \(( 0.262,0.438 )\) for Raloa and \(( 0.452,0.630 )\) for Tangi, where each figure is correct to 3 decimal places. It is known that \(43 \%\) of the world's population have type A blood.
  1. State, giving your reasons, whether there is evidence for the following assertions about the proportions of people with type A blood.
    1. The proportion in Raloa is different from the world proportion.
    2. The proportion in Tangi is different from the world proportion.
    3. Carry out a suitable test, at the \(2 \%\) significance level, of whether the proportions of people with type A blood differ on the two islands.
OCR S3 2006 June Q8
14 marks Standard +0.8
8 Two machines, \(A\) and \(B\), produce metal rods. Machine \(B\) is new and it is required that its accuracy should be checked against that of machine \(A\). The observed variable is the length of a rod. Random samples of rods, 40 from machine \(A\) and 50 from machine \(B\), are taken and their lengths, \(x _ { A } \mathrm {~cm}\) and \(x _ { B } \mathrm {~cm}\), are measured. The results are summarised by $$\Sigma x _ { A } = 136.48 , \quad \Sigma x _ { B } = 176.35 , \quad \Sigma x _ { B } ^ { 2 } = 630.1940 .$$ The variance of the length of the rods produced by machine \(A\) is known to be \(0.0490 \mathrm {~cm} ^ { 2 }\). The mean lengths of the rods produced by the machines are denoted by \(\mu _ { A } \mathrm {~cm}\) and \(\mu _ { B } \mathrm {~cm}\) respectively.
  1. Test, at the \(5 \%\) significance level, the hypothesis \(\mu _ { B } > \mu _ { A }\).
  2. Find the set of values of \(a\) for which the null hypothesis \(\mu _ { B } - \mu _ { A } = 0.025\) would not be rejected in favour of the alternative hypothesis \(\mu _ { B } - \mu _ { A } > 0.025\) at the \(a \%\) significance level.
  3. For the test in part (i) to be valid,
    1. state whether it is necessary to assume that the two population variances are equal,
    2. state, giving a reason, whether it is necessary to assume that the lengths of rods are normally distributed.
OCR S3 2007 June Q3
8 marks Standard +0.3
3 A nurse was asked to measure the blood pressure of 12 patients using an aneroid device. The nurse's readings were immediately checked using an accurate electronic device. The differences, \(x\), given by \(x =\) (aneroid reading - electronic reading), in appropriate units, are shown below. $$\begin{array} { c c c c c c c c c c c } - 1.3 & 4.7 & - 0.9 & 3.8 & - 1.5 & 4.0 & - 1.9 & 4.4 & - 0.8 & 5.5 & - 2.9 \end{array} 4.1$$ Stating any assumption you need to make, test, at the \(10 \%\) significance level, whether readings with an aneroid device, on average, overestimate patients' blood pressure.
OCR S3 2007 June Q6
12 marks Standard +0.3
6 Random samples of 200 'Alpha' and 150 'Beta' vacuum cleaners were monitored for reliability. It was found that 62 Alpha and 35 Beta cleaners required repair during the guarantee period of one year. The proportions of all Alpha and Beta cleaners that require repair during the guarantee period are \(p _ { \alpha }\) and \(p _ { \beta }\) respectively.
  1. Find a \(95 \%\) confidence interval for \(p _ { \alpha }\).
  2. Give a reason why, apart from rounding, the interval is approximate.
  3. Test, at the \(5 \%\) significance level, whether \(p _ { \alpha }\) differs from \(p _ { \beta }\).
OCR S3 2011 June Q7
15 marks Standard +0.3
7 In order to improve their mathematics results 10 students attended an intensive Summer School course. Each student took a test at the start of the course and a similar test at the end of the course. The table shows the scores achieved in each test.
Student12345678910
First test score37273847542752396223
Second test score47295044723763457632
It is desired to test whether there has been an increase in the population mean score.
  1. Explain why a two-sample \(t\)-test would not be appropriate.
  2. Stating any necessary assumptions, carry out a suitable \(t\)-test at the \(\frac { 1 } { 2 } \%\) significance level.
  3. The Summer School director claims that after taking the course the population mean score increases by more than 5 . Is there sufficient evidence for this claim?
OCR S3 Specimen Q7
15 marks Standard +0.3
7 A factory manager wished to compare two methods of assembling a new component, to determine which method could be carried out more quickly, on average, by the workforce. A random sample of 12 workers was taken, and each worker tried out each of the methods of assembly. The times taken, in seconds, are shown in the table.
Worker\(A\)\(B\)\(C\)\(D\)\(E\)\(F\)\(G\)\(H\)\(I\)\(J\)\(K\)\(L\)
Time in seconds for Method 1483847596241505258544960
Time in seconds for Method 2474038555742424062474751
  1. (a) Carry out an appropriate \(t\)-test, using a \(2 \%\) significance level, to test whether there is any difference in the times for the two methods of assembly.
    (b) State an assumption needed in carrying out this test.
    (c) Calculate a \(95 \%\) confidence interval for the population mean time difference for the two methods of assembly.
  2. Instead of using the same 12 workers to try both methods, the factory manager could have used two independent random samples of workers, allocating Method 1 to the members of one sample and Method 2 to the members of the other sample.
    (a) State one disadvantage of a procedure based on two independent random samples.
    (b) State any assumptions that would need to be made to carry out a \(t\)-test based on two independent random samples.
OCR MEI S3 2007 January Q2
18 marks Standard +0.3
2 The manager of a large country estate is preparing to plant an area of woodland. He orders a large number of saplings (young trees) from a nursery. He selects a random sample of 12 of the saplings and measures their heights, which are as follows (in metres). $$\begin{array} { l l l l l l l l l l l l } 0.63 & 0.62 & 0.58 & 0.56 & 0.59 & 0.62 & 0.64 & 0.58 & 0.55 & 0.61 & 0.56 & 0.52 \end{array}$$
  1. The manager requires that the mean height of saplings at planting is at least 0.6 metres. Carry out the usual \(t\) test to examine this, using a \(5 \%\) significance level. State your hypotheses and conclusion carefully. What assumption is needed for the test to be valid?
  2. Find a \(95 \%\) confidence interval for the true mean height of saplings. Explain carefully what is meant by a \(95 \%\) confidence interval.
  3. Suppose the assumption needed in part (i) cannot be justified. Identify an alternative test that the manager could carry out in order to check that the saplings meet his requirements, and state the null hypothesis for this test.
OCR MEI S3 2006 June Q3
18 marks Moderate -0.3
3 An employer has commissioned an opinion polling organisation to undertake a survey of the attitudes of staff to proposed changes in the pension scheme. The staff are categorised as management, professional and administrative, and it is thought that there might be considerable differences of opinion between the categories. There are 60,140 and 300 staff respectively in the categories. The budget for the survey allows for a sample of 40 members of staff to be selected for in-depth interviews.
  1. Explain why it would be unwise to select a simple random sample from all the staff.
  2. Discuss whether it would be sensible to consider systematic sampling.
  3. What are the advantages of stratified sampling in this situation?
  4. State the sample sizes in each category if stratified sampling with as nearly as possible proportional allocation is used. The opinion polling organisation needs to estimate the average wealth of staff in the categories, in terms of property, savings, investments and so on. In a random sample of 11 professional staff, the sample mean is \(\pounds 345818\) and the sample standard deviation is \(\pounds 69241\).
  5. Assuming the underlying population is Normally distributed, test at the \(5 \%\) level of significance the null hypothesis that the population mean is \(\pounds 300000\) against the alternative hypothesis that it is greater than \(\pounds 300000\). Provide also a two-sided \(95 \%\) confidence interval for the population mean.
    [0pt] [10]
OCR MEI S3 2007 June Q3
18 marks Standard +0.3
3 The management of a large chain of shops aims to reduce the level of absenteeism among its workforce by means of an incentive bonus scheme. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the scheme, the management measures the percentage of working days lost before and after its introduction for each of a random sample of 11 shops. The results are shown below.
ShopABCDEFGHIJK
\% days lost before3.55.03.53.24.54.94.16.06.88.16.0
\% days lost after1.84.32.94.54.45.83.56.76.45.45.1
  1. The management decides to carry out a \(t\) test to investigate whether there has been a reduction in absenteeism.
    1. State clearly the hypotheses that should be used together with any necessary assumptions.
    2. Carry out the test using a \(5 \%\) significance level.
  2. Find a 95\% confidence interval for the true mean percentage of days lost after the introduction of the incentive scheme and state any assumption needed. The management has set a target that the mean percentage should be 3.5. Do you think this has been achieved? Explain your answer.
OCR S4 2007 June Q7
15 marks Standard +0.3
7 The continuous random variable \(X\) has a uniform distribution over the interval \([ 0 , \theta ]\) so that the probability density function is given by $$f ( x ) = \begin{cases} \frac { 1 } { \theta } & 0 \leqslant x \leqslant \theta \\ 0 & \text { otherwise } \end{cases}$$ where \(\theta\) is a positive constant. A sample of \(n\) independent observations of \(X\) is taken and the sample mean is denoted by \(\bar { X }\).
  1. The estimator \(T _ { 1 }\) is defined by \(T _ { 1 } = 2 \bar { X }\). Show that \(T _ { 1 }\) is an unbiased estimator of \(\theta\). It is given that the probability density function of the largest value, \(U\), in the sample is $$g ( u ) = \begin{cases} \frac { n u ^ { n - 1 } } { \theta ^ { n } } & 0 \leqslant u \leqslant \theta \\ 0 & \text { otherwise } \end{cases}$$
  2. Find \(\mathrm { E } ( U )\) and show that \(\operatorname { Var } ( U ) = \frac { n \theta ^ { 2 } } { ( n + 1 ) ^ { 2 } ( n + 2 ) }\).
  3. The estimator \(T _ { 2 }\) is defined by \(T _ { 2 } = \frac { n + 1 } { n } U\). Given that \(T _ { 2 }\) is also an unbiased estimator of \(\theta\), show that \(T _ { 2 }\) is a more efficient estimator than \(T _ { 1 }\) for \(n > 1\).