A simple random sample of 8 women basketball player’s weights has a standard deviation of 7.5 lb. Find the test statistic, using a 0.05 significance level, to test a claim that the standard deviation of all weights of women basketball players is less than 9 lb.

A) 5.833
B) 10.080
C) 5.556
D) 4.861

1 answer

To test the claim about the standard deviation of weights of women basketball players, we will use the Chi-Squared test for variance. The formula for the test statistic is given by:

\[ \chi^2 = \frac{(n - 1) s^2}{\sigma_0^2} \]

Where:

  • \( n \) is the sample size (8 in this case)
  • \( s \) is the sample standard deviation (7.5 lb)
  • \( \sigma_0 \) is the hypothesized population standard deviation (9 lb)
  1. First, we need to calculate \( s^2 \) (the sample variance) and \( \sigma_0^2 \) (the hypothesized population variance):

    \[ s^2 = (7.5)^2 = 56.25 \]

    \[ \sigma_0^2 = (9)^2 = 81 \]

  2. Substitute the values into the Chi-Squared formula:

    \[ \chi^2 = \frac{(8 - 1) \cdot 56.25}{81} = \frac{7 \cdot 56.25}{81} \]

    \[ \chi^2 = \frac{393.75}{81} \approx 4.861 \]

Now that we have calculated the test statistic, we can compare it to the critical value from the Chi-Squared distribution to determine if we can reject the null hypothesis. However, we are interested only in the calculated test statistic.

So the test statistic is:

\[ \chi^2 \approx 4.861 \]

Thus, the correct answer is:

D) 4.861