Mathematics 9709 · AS & A Level · Hypothesis testing

Hypothesis testing — practice question

The lengths, in centimetres, of worms from a particular species are normally distributed with mean $\mu$ and standard deviation $2.3$. A magazine article says that $\mu=12.7$. A scientist wants to check whether this claim is correct. He measures the lengths, $x$ cm, of a random sample of $50$ worms of this species and obtains $\Sigma x = 597.1$. He intends to perform a test, at the $1\%$ significance level, of whether the actual value of $\mu$ differs from $12.7$.
(a)[1]

State, with a reason, whether he should choose a one-tailed test or a two-tailed test.

(b)[5]

Carry out this test.

Worked solution & mark scheme

This 6-mark question has a full step-by-step worked solution and mark scheme. One marking point: Correctly identifies a two-tailed test

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