Exercise 11.4:
Each person in a random sample of 228 male teenagers and a random
sample of 306 female teenagers was asked how many hours he or she spent
online in a typical week (Ipsos, January 25, 2006). The sample mean and
standard deviation were 15.1 hours and 11.4 hours for males and 14.1 and
11.8 for females.
a. The standard deviation for each of the samples is large, indicating a
lot of variability in the responses to the question. Explain why it is not
reasonable to think that the distribution of responses would be
approximately normal for either the population of male teenagers or the
poulation of female teenagers. Hint: The number of hours spent online in
a typical week cannot be negative.
b. Given your response to Part (a), would it be appropriate to use the
two-sample t test to test the null hypothesis that there is no
difference in the mean number of hours spent online in a typical week for
male teenagers and female teenagers? Explain why or why not.
c. If appropriate, carry out a test to determine if there is convincing
evidence that the mean number of hours spent online in a typical week is
greater for male teenagers than for female teenagers. Use a .05
significance level.
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