PSYC 381: Assignment #3
1. A researcher tests if the introduction of fluoride to the drinking water will significantly reduce the average number of cavities among children. Last year the average number of cavities was μ = 2.32, with σ = 0.46. This year fluoride was introduced. Thirty six children are sampled, and have an average of 2.07 cavities. Using α = .05, test the hypothesis. Remember to follow the 4 steps of hypothesis-testing that were outlined in the lecture
2. In the following studies (a and b) a single sample mean is being compared to a population with a known mean but an unknown variance. Determine what test to conduct for study a and for study b. Decide whether there is a significant difference between means. . Go through each step of the hypothesis testing procedure. Be sure to show all of your computations.
The next test need to be completed by hand and using SPSS – as always you need to follow the steps for testing hypotheses.
An experiment was performed to measure the effect of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance. Sixteen college juniors were randomly selected from a group of volunteers and arbitrarily assigned either to a sleep deprivation group or a control group. The participants in the sleep deprivation group were kept awake for 24 hours; the members of the control group had a normal night’s sleep. Participants were asked to perform a simple mental arithmetic task, and the time it took each participant to complete the task was recorded. The results were as follows:
Do these data indicate a significant difference between the treatments at the .05 level of significance?
i. Calculate the test by hand. Make sure to follow Steps 1-4 of the hypothesis testing procedure. For hand calculations here is some additional information: Sleep Deprivation group:
ii. Enter the data into SPSS. Save the file as . Upload the file using the Assignment tool.
iii. In SPSS conduct the appropriate statistical test, and ask for descriptive statistics. Print the output, and annotate the printout.
