SCMHRD

Data Analytics using SAS for Economists Problem Sheet 3

April, 2013

1. (File: hsb2.sas7bdat) A sample of high school students identified by their student roll number (id), with their school type (schtyp) and the program of study (prog) is contained in the data with demographic information about the students, such as their gender (female), socio-economic status (ses) and ethnic background (race). It also contains a number of scores on standardized tests, including tests of reading (read), writing (write), mathematics (math), science (science) and social studies (socst). i. Compare the mean writing scores between the group of female students (female=1) and the group of male students (female=0). Validate your initial insights using an appropriate statistical test. Comment on the validity of test diagnostics. Use a significance level of 0.05.

ii. Assume that all the students took both the writing and the reading tests. Using an appropriate statistical test, conclude whether there is any significant difference between the scores provided by each student on both the tests? Use a significance level of 0.05. 2. (File: graze.sas7bdat) A sample of 32 cattle is taken to compare two grazing methods. Half of the cattle are allowed to graze continuously while the other half are subjected to controlled grazing time. Researchers are interested to know whether the two grazing methods affect weight gain of the cattle differently. Validate your initial insights using an appropriate statistical test. Comment on the validity of test diagnostics. Use a significance level of 0.05. 3. (File: creditpromo.sas7bdat) An analyst at a departmental store intends to evaluate a recent credit card promotion. 500 cardholders were randomly selected. Half of them received an advertisement promoting a reduced interest rate on purchases made over the next three months (insert=1), and the other half received a standard seasonal advertisement (insert=0). Does the credit card promotion campaign affect the dollars spent by those who received the advertisement that promoted the reduced interest rate? Validate your initial insights using an appropriate statistical test. Comment on the validity of the test diagnostics. Use a significance level of 0.05. 4. (File: signal.sas7bdat) A researcher is interested to know whether the time it takes to respond to a visual signal is different from the time it takes to respond to an auditory signal. 10 experimenters were tested with both the signals and their reaction times (in milliseconds) in the two conditions are recorded in the dataset. Using an appropriate statistical test assist the researcher with an informed conclusion. Use a significance level of 0.05. 5. (File: music.sas7bdat) An academic researcher is interested to know whether two types of music: classical and rock, have different effects upon the ability of graduate students to perform a series of mental tasks requiring concentration. An experimental study was conducted with 30 students that were required to perform a series of 40 mental tasks while one or the other of the music types was played in the background. Assist the researcher and validate your initial insights using an appropriate statistical test. Comment on the validity of the test diagnostics. Use a significance level of 0.05.

SCMHRD

Data Analytics using SAS for Economists

April, 2013

6. (File: sleep.sas7bdat) Sleep researchers decide to test the impact of REM sleep deprivation on a computerized assembly line task. Subjects are required to participate in two nights of testing on which certain measures are taken. On each night of testing the subject is allowed a total of four hours of sleep. However, on one of the nights, the subject is awakened immediately upon achieving REM sleep. On the alternate night, subjects are randomly awakened at various times throughout the four-hour total sleep session. Each subject after the sleep session is required to complete a computerized assembly line task by fixing a certain number of widgets. The data contains the number of missed widgets as recorded after the sleep session. Using an appropriate statistical test determine whether REM sleep deprivation reduces the performance on the assembly line task. Use a significance level of 0.05. (Note: REM stands for Rapid Eye Movement). 7. (File: cookies.sas7bdat) As part of a market research project at a leading B-school, a team of students was interested to assess taste ratings of two brands of cookies. An experimental data collection exercise was carried out with the hostel students that represented a random sample of professional taste testers. They were required to taste both brands of cookies and assign them ratings on a scale of 0 (terrible) to 10 (tastiest). They were asked to take a sip of water between the taste tests to neutralize the effect of one cookie's taste over the other. Using an appropriate statistical test determine whether the taste ratings of the two brands of cookies differed from each other. Use a significance level of 0.05.