A researcher is interested in whether students who attend private high schools have higher average SAT scores than students in the general population. A random sample of 90 students at a private high school is tested and has a mean SAT score of 1050. The average score for public high school students is 1000(ó= 200). Is this a one or two tailed test?

Question

A researcher is interested in whether students who attend private high schools have higher average SAT scores than students in the general population.  A random sample of 90 students at a private high school is tested and has a mean SAT score of 1050.  The average score for public high school students is 1000(ó= 200).   Is this a one or two tailed test?

PsyDAG · Answer

Since you are only concerned with finding if the sample mean is greater than the population mean, it is a one-tailed test. Ho: mean = 1000 Ha: mean > 1000