M183: Statistical Data Analysis & Databases

Final Examination – Second Semester 2009

ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS

1. (21 marks)

(a) If a hypothesis test had a p-value of 0.0475 and a 1% level of significance was specified
for the test, would you reject the null hypothesis?
Justify your answer. [2]

(b) Suppose the test statistic used in part (a) has a standard normal distribution. Find
possible values of the test statistic if (i) the hypothesis test was one-sided, (ii) the
hypothesis test was two-sided? [2]

(c) What is the standard error of the sample mean , calculated from a sample of 25
observations, if X has a Normal distribution with a mean of 12 and a variance of 50?
[2]

(d) If X has a Binomial distribution with parameters n = 10 and p = 0.25, what is P(X < 6)?
[2]

(e) The p-value associated with an alternate hypothesis of “ ” is 0.02 .

What will the p-value be if all data remain the same but we change the alternate
hypothesis to “ “ ? Justify your answer. [2]

(f) The width of a 96% confidence interval will be greater or less than the width of a 94%
confidence interval (for the same sample values)? Justify your answer. [2]

(g) Can the Binomial distribution be used to calculate the probabilities associated with X,
the number of red balls in a sample of five balls, where the sample is drawn without
replacement from a bucket containing fifty red balls and fifty black balls? Justify your
answer. [2]

(h) It is known that the chances of a newborn puppy of a particular breed surviving its first
week of life are 0.93; A breeder has 50 live births of this breed in a given period, what
would the (approximate) probability be that less than 85% of them survive their first
week of life? [3]

(i) Scientists are attempting to determine whether painting buildings different colours can
affect their ambient temperature. Four different colours have been selected for trial and
these colours are randomly assigned to similar buildings across an urban area so that
there are twenty five buildings of each colour. The average ambient temperature
associated with each colour of building is measured. (i) What statistical analysis
technique can be used to support an appropriate decision? (ii) What assumptions do the
data need to meet for this technique to be appropriate? [4]

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M183: Statistical Data Analysis & Databases
Final Examination – Second Semester 2009
2. (8 marks)

A medical equipment manufacturer supplies veterinary practices with equipment to

monitor patients under anaesthetic. The manufacturer offers a 24 month warranty on
the monitoring equipment supplied. The lifespan of the equipment is normally
distributed with a mean of 5 years and a standard deviation of 18 months.

a) What proportion of the monitoring apparatus supplied will break before

the warranty expires?
[4]
b) If the manufacturer only wants to replace a maximum of 2% of the
equipment supplied, what warranty should they offer? [4]

3. (6 marks)

It is claimed that 2% of the population in a specific village suffer from a certain rare
eye disorder. However, the doctor in the village believes that the true proportion of
sufferers is actually more than 2%. He randomly tests 500 people from the village
and finds that 12 of them have the eye disorder. Test whether the village doctor’s
belief is justified. Use a 1% level of significance.

4. (8 marks)

Makers of generic drugs must show that they do not differ significantly from the
reference drug that they imitate. The results below come from a study into the
difference of absorption into the blood of the reference and generic drug using 20
healthy non smoking males1. Half the subjects were given the reference drug first and
then after a suitable time the generic drug. The remaining subjects were given the
generic drug first followed by the reference drug. Some results are given below.

Subject Reference Drug Generic Drug Difference

15 4108 1755 2353
3 2526 1138 1388

   
19 1020 3050 -2030
mean 2048.5 2085.5 -37
standard dev. 859.54 642.56 1070.62

Use a 10% level of significance to test for equivalence of mean absorption into the
blood for the reference and generic drugs.

…/3

1
Lianng Yuh. A biopharmaceutical example for undergraduate students. Unpublished manuscript. (Textbook
Moore, The basic Practice of Statistics)

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M183: Statistical Data Analysis & Databases
Final Examination – Second Semester 2009

5. (10 marks)

The data below relate to the number of moths of a particular species caught in a light
trap on 8 consecutive nights.

25 12 29 43 6 16 18 22

a) Calculate the median number of moths caught per night. [2]

b) Perform an appropriate test to see if there is sufficient evidence to doubt the

hypothesis that the median number of moths caught per night is 17? [8]

6. (12 marks)
The following data comes from a random sample of 200 azalea plants, classified
according to their colour and whether or not they are fragrant.

Flower Colour
Fragrance White Pink Orange
Yes 12 60 58
No 50 10 10

a) Using a 5% level of significance, is there evidence that flower colour and

fragrance are associated in any way? If there is an association, briefly indicate
what this may be. [9]

b) Calculate the 95% confidence interval for the proportion of white azaleas
which have fragrance. [3]

7. (8 marks)
Rare Unicorn whales are only able to be seen off the distant islands of Fantasia where
they breed, in the months August through to December. Researchers believe that one is
equally likely to spot a whale in any of these months. Test how well the observed data
below fits this belief.

Wks No of whales
spotted
August 18
September 13
October 8
November 11
December 10

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 M183: Statistical Data Analysis & Databases
Final Examination – Second Semester 2009
8. (12 marks)

Scientists are attempting to decide whether dietary supplements are beneficial in

assisting weight gain in underweight infants. A group of underweight infant possums
were exposed to a diet with the supplements (1) and another, randomly selected
group of underweight possums fed a diet without the supplements (2). The tables
below show the results of tests on the mean weights of these animals.

a) On the basis of the descriptive statistics, what can you say about the effects of
the two diets? [2]
b) Indicate which is the appropriate test to perform (with reasons), stating the
hypotheses, test statistic, p-value and conclusion [8]
c) Comment on the design of this experiment and state whether you think it
could be improved upon. [2]

Group Statistics

Group N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean

Weights 1 11 97.00 29.107 8.776
2 11 56.00 27.835 8.393

Independent Samples Test

Levene's Test
for Equality of
Variances t-test for Equality of Means

95% Confidence Interval of the

Sig. Difference
(2- Mean Std. Error
F Sig. t df tailed) Difference Difference Lower Upper

weights Equal
variances .030 .865 3.376 20 .003 41.000 12.143 15.670 66.330
assumed

Equal
variances
3.376 19.960 .003 41.000 12.143 15.667 66.333
not
assumed

Paired Samples Test

Paired Differences
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Difference
Std. Std. Error
Mean Deviation Mean Lower Upper t df Sig. (2-tailed)
Pair weight_1 -
1 weight_2 4.10000E1 46.89989 14.14085 9.49222 72.50778 2.899 10 .016

…/5

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M183: Statistical Data Analysis & Databases
Final Examination – Second Semester 2009
9. (15 marks)

A veterinary anatomist measured the density of nerve cells at two sites (midregion of
jejunum and mesenteric region of jejunum) in the intestines of nine horses2. The data
given below represent the average count of nerve cells in five equal sections of tissue
per site per horse.

Horse 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Site 1 50.6 39.2 35.2 17.0 11.2 14.2 24.2 37.4 35.2
Site 2 38.0 18.6 23.2 19.0 6.6 16.4 14.4 37.6 24.4

a) Construct a scatter diagram for the data, using Site 2 as the dependent variable,
and comment upon any apparent relationship.

The output below was obtained from SPSS:

Model Summary b

Adjusted Std. Error of

Model R R Square R Square the Estimate
1 .812a .659 .610 6.45
a. Predictors: (Constant), SITE_1
b. Dependent Variable: SITE_2

Coefficientsa

Standardi
zed
Unstandardized Coefficien
Coefficients ts
Model B Std. Error Beta t Sig.
1 (Constant) 3.545 5.462 .649 .537
SITE_1 .629 .171 .812 3.679 .008
a. Dependent Variable: SITE_2

b) Write down the appropriate fitted linear relationship between nerve cell
densities at Site 1 and Site 2.
c) Test whether the slope of the regression line is zero and, hence, decide
whether the regression equation is useful for prediction purposes.
d) Predict the average nerve cell density at Site 2 for a horse with nerve cell
density of 40 at Site 1. Calculate the associated, approximate 95% prediction
interval.
e) Indicate what the value of R Square in the SPSS output implies.

END OF PAPER

2
Masty, J. (1983). Innervation of the equine small intestine. Master’s Thesis, Purdue University.