How do I calculate the p value of the following? Students' height is approximately normal with

Carly Cannon

Carly Cannon

Answered question

2022-07-04

How do I calculate the p value of the following?
Students' height is approximately normal with s.d = 4 inches, sample = 10,mean height = 68 inches.
Calculate the p value corresponding to the following null hypotheses.
H 0 = Avg. height is 70 inches
H 1 = Avg. height is not 70 inches

Answer & Explanation

Pranav Greer

Pranav Greer

Beginner2022-07-05Added 13 answers

The reason why a t-test is not used here is because, although the sample size is small, you are given the population standard deviation and are told that the data are approximately normally distributed. Consequently, the test statistic has the form
Z H 0 = X ¯ μ 0 σ / n .
The standard deviation is not being estimated from the sample.
Sometimes, it can be difficult to tell from the language of the question whether the standard deviation is being estimated. This is one such case; the main clues are that you are not told it is a "sample standard deviation," and that it is stated before the sample size and the sample mean are given; specifically, it is provided in the same sentence as the statement that height data is approximately normal.
The value 0.9431 comes from the value of the test statistic above: with σ = 4, n = 10, X ¯ = 68, and μ 0 = 70, we obtain
Z = 5 2 1.58114.
Then the p-value of this two-sided test is
2 Pr [ Z < 1.58114 ] = 2 ( 1 Φ ( 1.58114 ) ) ,
where Φ ( 1.58114 ) 0.943077 is the cumulative distribution function of the standard normal distribution, for the probability that a standard normal random variable is less than or equal to 1.58114.
Jorden Pace

Jorden Pace

Beginner2022-07-06Added 4 answers

If Z is normal and symmetric around 0 then we have P ( | Z | > z ) = 2 ( 1 Φ ( z ) ) = 2 Φ ( z ).
Z = X 70 4 10 is symmetric around 0. If x=68 we have z = 68 70 4 10 = 2.5 1.5811...
Next you insert this value into the cdf of the normal distribution:
Φ ( 1.5811 ) = 0.0569
Integral:
2.5 1 2 π e x 2 / 2 d x = 0.0569231...
Finally we have
2 Φ ( z ) = 2 Φ ( 1.5811 ) = 2 0.0569 = 0.1138

Do you have a similar question?

Recalculate according to your conditions!

New Questions in College Statistics

Ask your question.
Get an expert answer.

Let our experts help you. Answer in as fast as 15 minutes.

Didn't find what you were looking for?