Test the claim that the mean GPA of night students is smaller than 3.2 at the 0.10 significance level.

Based on a sample of 40 people, the sample mean GPA was 3.18 with a standard deviation of 0.06

The test statistic is: ____
(to 2 decimals)

The p-value is: ____
(to 2 decimals)

1 answer

To test the claim that the mean GPA of night students is smaller than 3.2, we can conduct a one-sample t-test.

Step 1: Set up the hypotheses

  • Null hypothesis (H0): \(\mu = 3.2\)
  • Alternative hypothesis (H1): \(\mu < 3.2\)

Step 2: Collect the sample statistics

  • Sample size (\(n\)) = 40
  • Sample mean (\(\bar{x}\)) = 3.18
  • Population mean (\(\mu_0\)) = 3.2
  • Sample standard deviation (\(s\)) = 0.06

Step 3: Calculate the test statistic

The formula for the t-test statistic is:

\[ t = \frac{\bar{x} - \mu_0}{s / \sqrt{n}} \]

Substituting in the values:

\[ t = \frac{3.18 - 3.2}{0.06 / \sqrt{40}} \]

Calculating the denominator:

\[ s / \sqrt{n} = 0.06 / \sqrt{40} \approx 0.06 / 6.32 \approx 0.0095 \]

Now substituting this back into the formula for the t statistic:

\[ t = \frac{3.18 - 3.2}{0.0095} \approx \frac{-0.02}{0.0095} \approx -2.11 \]

So the test statistic is:

\[ \text{Test statistic (t)} = -2.11 \]

Step 4: Calculate the p-value

To find the p-value for a one-tailed t-test with \(n-1 = 40-1 = 39\) degrees of freedom, we can use a t-distribution table or a calculator.

Using a t-table or calculator, we can find the p-value corresponding to our test statistic of \(t = -2.11\) with 39 degrees of freedom.

Using statistical software or a calculator to find the one-tail p-value:

  • The p-value associated with \( -2.11 \) for \( 39 \) degrees of freedom is approximately \( 0.02 \).

Conclusion

  • Test statistic: \(-2.11\)
  • p-value: \(0.02\)

Thus, the answers are:

  • The test statistic is: -2.11
  • The p-value is: 0.02