A study was done using a treatment group and a placebo group. The results are shown in the table. Assume that the two samples are independent simple random samples selected from normally distributed populations, and do not assume that the population standard deviations are equal. Complete parts (a) and (b) below. Use a 0.01 significance level for both parts.

\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|}
\hline & Treatment & Placebo \\
\hline [tex]$\mu$[/tex] & [tex]$\mu_1$[/tex] & [tex]$\mu_2$[/tex] \\
\hline [tex]$n$[/tex] & 31 & 37 \\
\hline [tex]$x$[/tex] & 2.31 & 2.69 \\
\hline [tex]$s$[/tex] & 0.84 & 0.58 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}

a. Test the claim that the two samples are from populations with the same mean.

What are the null and alternative hypotheses?

A. [tex]$H_0: \mu_1 \neq \mu_2$[/tex]

B. [tex]$H_0: \mu_1 = \mu_2$[/tex], [tex]$H_1: \mu_1 \ \textless \ \mu_2$[/tex]

C. [tex]$H_0: \mu_1 \ \textless \ \mu_2$[/tex]

D. [tex]$H_0: \mu_1 = \mu_2$[/tex], [tex]$H_1: \mu_1 \geq \mu_2$[/tex]

[tex]\[
\begin{array}{l}
H_0: \mu_1 = \mu_2 \\
H_1: \mu_1 \ \textgreater \ \mu_2
\end{array}
\][/tex]

The test statistic, [tex]$t_c$[/tex], is [tex]$\square$[/tex] (Round to two decimal places as needed.)



Answer :

To test the claim that the two samples are from populations with the same mean, we need to follow these steps:

1. State the hypotheses:
- The null hypothesis ([tex]\(H_0\)[/tex]): The means of the two populations are equal.
- The alternative hypothesis ([tex]\(H_1\)[/tex]): The means of the two populations are not equal.

These hypotheses can be written as:
- [tex]\( H_0: \mu_1 = \mu_2 \)[/tex]
- [tex]\( H_1: \mu_1 \neq \mu_2 \)[/tex]

Therefore, the correct choice is:
- B. [tex]\( H_0: \mu_1 = \mu_2 \)[/tex] and [tex]\( H_1: \mu_1 \neq \mu_2 \)[/tex]

2. Calculate the test statistic:
- The test statistic [tex]\( t_c \)[/tex] measures how far the sample means are from each other, taking into account the sample sizes and standard deviations.

Given values:
- Sample sizes: [tex]\( n_1 = 31 \)[/tex] and [tex]\( n_2 = 37 \)[/tex]
- Sample means: [tex]\( x_1 = 2.31 \)[/tex] and [tex]\( x_2 = 2.69 \)[/tex]
- Sample standard deviations: [tex]\( s_1 = 0.84 \)[/tex] and [tex]\( s_2 = 0.58 \)[/tex]

The formula for the test statistic [tex]\( t_c \)[/tex] for two independent samples is:
[tex]\[ t_c = \frac{(x_1 - x_2)}{\sqrt{\frac{s_1^2}{n_1} + \frac{s_2^2}{n_2}}} \][/tex]

Plugging in the values:
[tex]\[ t_c = \frac{(2.31 - 2.69)}{\sqrt{\frac{0.84^2}{31} + \frac{0.58^2}{37}}} \][/tex]

Using these numbers, the calculated test statistic [tex]\( t_c \)[/tex] is approximately:
- [tex]\( t_c = -2.13 \)[/tex]

3. Determine the degrees of freedom:
- Degrees of freedom (df) can be complex to calculate as they involve the variances and sample sizes of both groups.
- Using the approximation formula for degrees of freedom for unequal variances:
[tex]\[ df = \frac{(\frac{s_1^2}{n_1} + \frac{s_2^2}{n_2})^2} {\frac{(\frac{s_1^2}{n_1})^2}{n_1 - 1} + \frac{(\frac{s_2^2}{n_2})^2}{n_2 - 1}} \][/tex]

Using the given values, the degrees of freedom (df) is approximately:

- [tex]\( df \approx 36.79 \)[/tex]

4. Determine the critical value:
- For a two-tailed test at a significance level of [tex]\( \alpha = 0.01 \)[/tex], we look up the t-distribution table for the critical value corresponding to [tex]\( \alpha/2 = 0.005 \)[/tex] and 36.79 degrees of freedom.
- The critical value for this t-distribution is approximately:
- Critical value [tex]\( \approx 2.68 \)[/tex]

5. Calculate the p-value:
- The p-value indicates the probability of obtaining a test statistic at least as extreme as the one calculated assuming the null hypothesis is true. For [tex]\( t_c = -2.13 \)[/tex], and df approximated, the p-value is:
[tex]\[ p\_value \approx 0.0381 \][/tex]

In summary:
- The hypotheses are:
- [tex]\( H_0: \mu_1 = \mu_2 \)[/tex]
- [tex]\( H_1: \mu_1 \neq \mu_2 \)[/tex]
- The test statistic [tex]\( t_c = -2.13 \)[/tex]
- The critical value for a two-tailed test at [tex]\( \alpha = 0.01 \)[/tex] is [tex]\( \pm 2.68 \)[/tex]
- The p-value is approximately [tex]\( 0.0381 \)[/tex]

Since the p-value (0.0381) is greater than the significance level [tex]\( \alpha = 0.01 \)[/tex], we do not reject the null hypothesis. Thus, there is insufficient evidence to conclude that the population means are different.