460 CHAPTER 10 Inferences for Two Population Means

Note to Minitab users: As we noted on page 448, Minitab computes a two-sided confi-
dence interval for a two-tailed test and a one-sided confidence interval for a one-tailed
test. To perform a one-tailed hypothesis test and obtain a two-sided confidence inter-
val, apply Minitab’s nonpooled t-procedure twice: once for the one-tailed hypothesis
test and once for the confidence interval specifying a two-tailed hypothesis test.

Exercises 10.3
Understanding the Concepts and Skills oners from the former East Germany and presented their find-
ings in the paper “Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Follow-
10.60 What is the difference in assumptions between the pooled ing Political Imprisonment: The Role of Mental Defeat, Alien-
and nonpooled t-procedures? ation, and Perceived Permanent Change” (Journal of Abnormal
10.61 Suppose that you know that a variable is normally dis- Psychology, Vol. 109, pp. 45–55). The researchers randomly
tributed on each of two populations. Further suppose that you and independently selected 32 former prisoners diagnosed with
want to perform a hypothesis test based on independent random chronic PTSD and 20 former prisoners that were diagnosed with
samples to compare the two population means. In each case, de- PTSD after release from prison but had since recovered (remit-
cide whether you would use the pooled or nonpooled t-test, and ted). The ages, in years, at arrest yielded the following summary
give a reason for your answer. statistics.
a. You know that the population standard deviations are equal.
b. You know that the population standard deviations are not Chronic Remitted
equal.
c. The sample standard deviations are 23.6 and 25.2, and each x̄1 = 25.8 x̄2 = 22.1
sample size is 25. s1 = 9.2 s2 = 5.7
d. The sample standard deviations are 23.6 and 59.2. n 1 = 32 n 2 = 20

10.62 Discuss the relative advantages and disadvantages of us-

ing pooled and nonpooled t-procedures. At the 10% significance level, is there sufficient evidence to con-
clude that a difference exists in the mean age at arrest of East
In each of Exercises 10.63–10.68, we have provided summary German prisoners with chronic PTSD and remitted PTSD?
statistics for independent simple random samples from two popu-
lations. In each case, use the nonpooled t-test and the nonpooled 10.70 Nitrogen and Seagrass. The seagrass Thalassia testu-
t-interval procedure to conduct the required hypothesis test and dinum is an integral part of the Texas coastal ecosystem. Essen-
obtain the specified confidence interval. tial to the growth of T. testudinum is ammonium. Researchers
K. Lee and K. Dunton of the Marine Science Institute of the Uni-
10.63 x̄1 = 10, s1 = 2, n 1 = 15, x̄2 = 12, s2 = 5, n 2 = 15 versity of Texas at Austin noticed that the seagrass beds in Corpus
a. Two-tailed test, α = 0.05 b. 95% confidence interval Christi Bay (CCB) were taller and thicker than those in Lower
10.64 x̄1 = 15, s1 = 2, n 1 = 15, x̄2 = 12, s2 = 5, n 2 = 15 Laguna Madre (LLM). They compared the sediment ammonium
a. Two-tailed test, α = 0.05 b. 95% confidence interval concentrations in the two locations and published their findings
in Marine Ecology Progress Series (Vol. 196, pp. 39–48). Fol-
10.65 x̄1 = 20, s1 = 4, n 1 = 10, x̄2 = 18, s2 = 5, n 2 = 15 lowing are the summary statistics on sediment ammonium con-
a. Right-tailed test, α = 0.05 b. 90% confidence interval centrations, in micromoles, obtained by the researchers.
10.66 x̄1 = 20, s1 = 4, n 1 = 10, x̄2 = 23, s2 = 5, n 2 = 15
a. Left-tailed test, α = 0.05 b. 90% confidence interval CCB LLM
10.67 x̄1 = 20, s1 = 6, n 1 = 20, x̄2 = 24, s2 = 2, n 2 = 15
a. Left-tailed test, α = 0.05 b. 90% confidence interval x̄1 = 115.1 x̄2 = 24.3
s1 = 79.4 s2 = 10.5
10.68 x̄1 = 20, s1 = 2, n 1 = 30, x̄2 = 18, s2 = 5, n 2 = 40 n 1 = 51 n 2 = 19
a. Right-tailed test, α = 0.05 b. 90% confidence interval
Preliminary data analyses indicate that you can reasonably use At the 1% significance level, is there sufficient evidence to con-
nonpooled t-procedures in Exercises 10.69–10.74. For each exer- clude that the mean sediment ammonium concentration in CCB
cise, apply a nonpooled t-test to perform the required hypothesis exceeds that in LLM?
test, using either the critical-value approach or the P-value ap-
proach. 10.71 Acute Postoperative Days. Refer to Example 10.6 on
page 454. The researchers also obtained the following data on
10.69 Political Prisoners. According to the American Psy- the number of acute postoperative days in the hospital using the
chiatric Association, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a dynamic and static systems.
common psychological consequence of traumatic events that in-
volve a threat to life or physical integrity. During the Cold War,
Dynamic Static
some 200,000 people in East Germany were imprisoned for po-
litical reasons. Many were subjected to physical and psycho- 7 5 8 8 6 7 7 6 18 9
logical torture during their imprisonment, resulting in PTSD. 9 10 7 7 7 7 8 7 14 9
A. Ehlers et al. studied various characteristics of political pris-
 10.3 Inferences for Two Population Means: σ s Not Assumed Equal 461

At the 5% significance level, do the data provide sufficient evi- (Note: x̄1 = 0.02426, s1 = 0.00514, x̄2 = 0.01643, and s2 =
dence to conclude that the mean number of acute postoperative 0.00470.)
days in the hospital is smaller with the dynamic system than with 10.74 Wing Length. D. Cristol et al. published results of their
the static system? (Note: x̄1 = 7.36, s1 = 1.22, x̄2 = 10.50, and studies of two subspecies of dark-eyed juncos in the article “Mi-
s2 = 4.59.) gratory Dark-Eyed Juncos, Junco Hyemalis, Have Better Spatial
10.72 Stressed-Out Bus Drivers. Frustrated passengers, con- Memory and Denser Hippocampal Neurons than Nonmigratory
gested streets, time schedules, and air and noise pollution are Conspecifics” (Animal Behaviour, Vol. 66, pp. 317–328). One of
just some of the physical and social pressures that lead many the subspecies migrates each year, and the other does not mi-
urban bus drivers to retire prematurely with disabilities such as grate. Several physical characteristics of 14 birds of each sub-
coronary heart disease and stomach disorders. An intervention species were measured, one of which was wing length. The fol-
program designed by the Stockholm Transit District was imple- lowing data, based on results obtained by the researchers, provide
mented to improve the work conditions of the city’s bus drivers. the wing lengths, in millimeters (mm), for the samples of two
Improvements were evaluated by G. Evans et al., who collected subspecies.
physiological and psychological data for bus drivers who drove
on the improved routes (intervention) and for drivers who were Migratory Nonmigratory
assigned the normal routes (control). Their findings were pub-
lished in the article “Hassles on the Job: A Study of a Job In- 84.5 81.0 82.6 82.1 82.4 83.9
tervention with Urban Bus Drivers” (Journal of Organizational 82.8 84.5 81.2 87.1 84.6 85.1
Behavior, Vol. 20, pp. 199–208). Following are data, based on 80.5 82.1 82.3 86.3 86.6 83.9
the results of the study, for the heart rates, in beats per minute, of 80.1 83.4 81.7 84.2 84.3 86.2
the intervention and control drivers. 83.0 79.7 87.8 84.1

Intervention Control a. At the 1% significance level, do the data provide sufficient

evidence to conclude that the mean wing lengths for the
68 66 74 52 67 63 77 57 80
two subspecies are different? (Note: The mean and stan-
74 58 77 53 76 54 73 54
dard deviation for the migratory-bird data are 82.1 mm
69 63 60 77 63 60 68 64
and 1.501 mm, respectively, and that for the nonmigratory-
68 73 66 71 66 55 71 84
bird data are 84.9 mm and 1.698 mm, respectively.)
64 76 63 73 59 68 64 82
b. Would it be reasonable to use a pooled t-test here? Explain
your answer.
a. At the 5% significance level, do the data provide sufficient c. If your answer to part (b) was yes, then perform a pooled t-test
evidence to conclude that the intervention program reduces to answer the question in part (a) and compare your results to
mean heart rate of urban bus drivers in Stockholm? (Note: that found in part (a) by using a nonpooled t-test.
x̄1 = 67.90, s1 = 5.49, x̄2 = 66.81, and s2 = 9.04.)
b. Can you provide an explanation for the somewhat surprising In Exercises 10.75–10.80, apply Procedure 10.4 on page 456 to
results of the study? obtain the required confidence interval. Interpret your result in
c. Is the study a designed experiment or an observational study? each case.
Explain your answer. 10.75 Political Prisoners. Refer to Exercise 10.69 and obtain a
90% confidence interval for the difference, μ1 − μ2 , between the
10.73 Schizophrenia and Dopamine. Previous research has
mean ages at arrest of East German prisoners with chronic PTSD
suggested that changes in the activity of dopamine, a neurotrans-
and remitted PTSD.
mitter in the brain, may be a causative factor for schizophrenia.
In the paper “Schizophrenia: Dopamine β-Hydroxylase Activity 10.76 Nitrogen and Seagrass. Refer to Exercise 10.70 and de-
and Treatment Response” (Science, Vol. 216, pp. 1423–1425), termine a 98% confidence interval for the difference, μ1 − μ2 ,
D. Sternberg et al. published the results of their study in which between the mean sediment ammonium concentrations in CCB
they examined 25 schizophrenic patients who had been classified and LLM.
as either psychotic or not psychotic by hospital staff. The activ- 10.77 Acute Postoperative Days. Refer to Exercise 10.71 and
ity of dopamine was measured in each patient by using the en- find a 90% confidence interval for the difference between the
zyme dopamine β-hydroxylase to assess differences in dopamine mean numbers of acute postoperative days in the hospital with
activity between the two groups. The following are the data, in the dynamic and static systems.
nanomoles per milliliter-hour per milligram (nmol/mL-hr/mg).
10.78 Stressed-Out Bus Drivers. Refer to Exercise 10.72 and
find a 90% confidence interval for the difference between the
Psychotic Not psychotic mean heart rates of urban bus drivers in Stockholm in the two
0.0150 0.0222 0.0104 0.0230 0.0145 environments.
0.0204 0.0275 0.0200 0.0116 0.0180 10.79 Schizophrenia and Dopamine. Refer to Exercise 10.73
0.0306 0.0270 0.0210 0.0252 0.0154 and determine a 98% confidence interval for the difference be-
0.0320 0.0226 0.0105 0.0130 0.0170 tween the mean dopamine activities of psychotic and nonpsy-
0.0208 0.0245 0.0112 0.0200 0.0156 chotic patients.
10.80 Wing Length. Refer to Exercise 10.74 and find a
At the 1% significance level, do the data suggest that 99% confidence interval for the difference between the mean
dopamine activity is higher, on average, in psychotic patients? wing lengths of the two subspecies.