BME 120 ASSIGNMENT 2 GROUP C

1. An experiment was designed to assess the extent to which people rationalize poor performance.
In this study, 246 college undergraduates were assigned at random to one of two groups—a
negative feedback group or a positive feedback group. Each participant took a test in which they
were asked to guess the emotions displayed in photographs of faces. At the end of the test,
those in the negative feedback group were told that they had correctly answered 21 of the 40
items and were assigned a “grade” of D. Those in the positive feedback group were told that
they had answered 35 of 40 correctly and were assigned an A grade.

After a brief time, participants were asked to answer a set of questions about the validity of the
test. The researchers hypothesized that those in the negative feedback group would tend to
rationalize their poor performance by rating the validity of the test lower than those in the
positive feedback group.

The data from this experiment are displayed below:

a) Use a hypothesis test to determine, at a 0.05 level of significance, whether these data support
the researchers’ hypothesis.
i. Use the critical value approach.
ii. Use the 𝑝𝑝-value approach.
b) Construct a 90% confidence interval for the difference between the scores of people who
received negative feedback and those who received positive feedback, and interpret this
interval.

2. To determine if chocolate milk was as effective as other carbohydrate replacement drinks, nine
male cyclists performed an intense workout followed by a drink and a rest period. At the end of
the rest period, each cyclist performed an endurance trial in which he exercised until exhausted
and time to exhaustion was measured. Each cyclist completed the entire regimen on two
different days. On one day the drink provided was chocolate milk and on the other day the drink
provided was a carbohydrate replacement drink. The time to exhaustion for the two scenarios is
displayed in the table below.

Use a 0.10 level of significance to test if there is evidence that the mean time to exhaustion is
greater after chocolate milk than after a carbohydrate replacement drink.
3. Consider a study in which 2205 adolescents age 12 to 19 took a cardiovascular treadmill test.
The researchers conducting the study indicated that the sample was selected in such a way that
it could be regarded as representative of adolescents nationwide. Of the 2205 adolescents
tested, 750 showed a low level of cardiovascular fitness.
a) Construct a 98% confidence interval for the proportion of adolescents age 12 to 19 who showed
a low level of cardiovascular fitness.
b) Does this sample provide support for the claim that more than 30% of adolescents have a low
level of cardiovascular fitness? Use a 0.01 level of significance.
i. Use the critical value approach.
ii. Use the 𝑝𝑝-value approach.

4. As part of a study on how people of different ages use mobile technology, each person in a
sample of 258 cell phone users age 20 to 39 was asked if they use their cell phones to stay
connected while they are in bed. The same question was also asked of each person in a sample
of 129 cell phone users age 40 to 49.

Let:
𝑝𝑝̂1 = Proportion of cell phone users age 20 to 39 who stay connected while they are in bed
𝑝𝑝̂2 = Proportion of cell phone users age 40 to 49 who stay connected while they are in bed
𝑝𝑝̂ = Pooled proportion of cell phone users who stay connected while they are in bed

a) Calculate the following point estimates

i. 𝑝𝑝̂1 , the point estimate for 𝑝𝑝1
ii. 𝑝𝑝̂ 2 , the point estimate for 𝑝𝑝2
iii. 𝑝𝑝̂ , the point estimate for 𝑝𝑝
iv. (𝑝𝑝̂1 − 𝑝𝑝̂2 ), the point estimate for the difference in proportions.

b) Calculate the following standard errors

i. s.e.(𝑝𝑝̂1 ), the standard error for 𝑝𝑝̂1
ii. s.e.( 𝑝𝑝̂2 ), the standard error for 𝑝𝑝̂ 2
iii. s.e.( 𝑝𝑝̂1 − 𝑝𝑝̂2 ), the standard error for the difference in proportions.

c) Is there any significant evidence that the proportion of people who stay connected while in
bed is higher for the 20 to 39 age group than for the 40 to 49 age group? Use a 0.05 level of
significance by making use of the
i. critical value approach and the
ii. 𝑝𝑝-value approach.

d) For the hypotheses

𝐻𝐻0 : 𝑝𝑝1 = 𝑝𝑝2
𝐻𝐻1 : 𝑝𝑝1 ≠ 𝑝𝑝2
Give the
i. rejection rule at a 0.10 level of significance
ii. 𝑝𝑝-value
iii. standard error of (𝑝𝑝̂1 − 𝑝𝑝̂2 ) under 𝐻𝐻0 : 𝑝𝑝1 = 𝑝𝑝2 , i.e. when assuming the two population
proportions are the same.

e) Calculate the following confidence intervals for the difference in proportions

i. 90% confidence interval for ( 𝑝𝑝1 − 𝑝𝑝2 )
ii. 99% confidence interval for ( 𝑝𝑝1 − 𝑝𝑝2 )