Stat 190

Spring 2020
Activity 10 (Ch 10)

Confidence Intervals and Hypothesis Tests

In this exercise you will use Minitab to find confidence intervals and perform hypothesis
tests. You are welcome to use StatCrunch instead if you would like. However, all of the
instructions will be done using Minitab. You will need the data file beef.mtw on the U:
drive in the folder _MT Student File Area/agarth/stat190.

The mean consumption of beef per person in 1990 was 64 lb. A random sample of 40
people taken this year yielded data on last year’s beef consumptions.

1. Obtain a 95% confidence interval for the variable beef. (We won’t be using the
variable eurobeef in this lab.) To obtain such an interval, run the command
Stat/Basic Statistics/One sample T. Move the beef variable into the One or
more samples, each in a column box. To specify the confidence level, click on the
Options box, and specify the appropriate confidence level. Write the confidence
interval and its interpretation in the space below.

2. Now you will perform a hypothesis test for the variable beef. We will test to see if
the mean consumption of beef last year has changed since 1990. To perform the
test

H0 : μ = 64
H1 : μ ≠ 64

again run the command Stat/Basic Statistics/One sample T. Check the

Perform a hypothesis test checkbox, and then click on the Options box. In this
box you can again specify a confidence level. Keep the confidence level at 95%.
Also specify the Not equal alternative option (this is probably the default option).
Notice that a confidence level of 95% means that you will be setting your Type I
error rate to 5% (α) for your hypothesis test.

1
 3. Using the methods in Questions 1 and 2 (or using StatCrunch or your calculator),
complete the following table. The first row has been done for you.

Is μ0 α level of p-value for Reject H0?

μ0 Level of Confidence contained hypothesis hypothesis (Reject if
Confidence Interval in CI? test test (from pvalue<α)
output)
64 95 (51.87,64.93) Yes 5% 0.091 No
64 94 0.091
64 93 0.091
64 92 0.091
64 91 0.091
64 90 0.091

4. Explain the relationship between the confidence interval and the hypothesis test
results, based on your observations from the table.