KINGFISHER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND FINANCE
BUSMATH 42 : Management Science I
PERFORMANCE TASK 2
Nonparametric Methods
Problem 1 (10pts)
Many new stockbrokers resist giving presentations to bankers and certain other groups. Sensing this lack of self-
confidence, management arranged to have a confidence building seminar for a sample of new stockbrokers and
enlisted Career Boosters for a three-week course. Before the first session, Career Boosters measured the level of
confidence of each participant. It was measured again after the three-week seminar. The before and after levels of
self-confidence for the 14 in the course are shown below. Self-confidence was classified as being either negative,
low, high, or very high.
Stockbroker Before After Stockbroker Before After
J.M. Martin Negative Low F.M. Orphey Low Very High
T.D. Jagger Negative Negative C.C. Ford Low High
A.D. Hammer Low High A.R. Utz Negative Low
T.A. Jones Jr. Very High Low M.R. Murphy Low High
B.G. Dingh Low High P.A. Lopez Negative Low
D.A. Skeen Low High B.K. Pierre Low High
C.B. Simmer Negative High N.S. Walker Low Very High
The purpose of this study is to find whether Career Boosters was effective in raising the self-confidence of the new
stockbrokers. That is, was the level of self-confidence higher after the seminar than before it? Use the .05
significance level.
a. State the null and alternate hypotheses. (2pts)
b. Using the .05 level of significance, state the decision rule. (2pts)
c. Draw conclusions about the seminar offered by Career Boosters (6pts)
Problem 2 (8pts)
A sample of 60 college students was given a special training program designed to improve their time management
skills. One month after completing the course, the students were contacted and asked whether the skills learned in
the program were effective. A total of 42 responded yes. At the .05 significance level, can we conclude the program
is effective?
a. State the null hypothesis and the alternate hypothesis. (2pts)
b. State the decision rule. (2pts)
c. Compute the value of the test statistic. (2pts)
d. What is your decision regarding the null hypothesis? (2pts)
Problem 3 (6pts)
Central Airlines claims that the median price of a round-trip ticket from Chicago to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, is
$503. This claim is being challenged by the Association of Travel Agents, who believe the median price is less than
$503. A random sample of 400 round-trip tickets from Chicago to Jackson Hole revealed 160 tickets were below
$503. None of the tickets were exactly $503. Let alpha = .05.
a. State the null and alternate hypotheses. (2pts)
b. What is your decision regarding Ho? Interpret (4pts)
Problem 4 (8pts)
Toyota USA is studying the effect of regular versus high-octane gasoline on the fuel economy of its new high-
performance, 3.5-liter, V6 engine. Ten executives are selected and asked to maintain records on the number of miles
traveled per gallon of gas. The results are:
Executive Regular High-Octane Executive Regular High-Octane
Bowers 25 28 Rau 38 40
Demars 33 31 Greolke 29 29
Grasser 31 35 Burns 42 37
DeToto 45 44 Snow 41 44
Kleg 42 47 Lawless 30 44
At the .05 significance level, is there a difference in the number of miles traveled per gallon between regular and
high-octane gasoline?
a) State the null hypothesis and alternative hypothesis (2pts)
b) At 0.05 significance level, what is the decision rule? (2pts)
c) What is the value of test statistics? (2pts)
d) Make a decision based on your hypothesis. (2pts)
Problem 5 (8pts)
Tucson State University offers two MBA programs. In the first program, the students meet two nights per week at
the university’s main campus in downtown Tucson. In the second program, students only communicate online with
the instructor. The director of the MBA experience at Tucson wishes to compare the number of hours studied last
week by the two groups of students. A sample of 10 on-campus students and 12 online students revealed the
following information.
Campus: 28, 16, 42, 29, 31, 22, 50, 42, 23, 25
Online: 26, 42, 65, 38, 29, 32, 59, 42, 27, 41, 46, 18
Do not assume the two distributions of study times, which are reported in hours, follow a normal distribution. At
the .05 significance level, can we conclude the online students study more?
a) State the null hypothesis and alternative hypothesis (2pts)
b) At 0.05 significance level, what is the decision rule? (2pts)
c) What is the value of test statistics? (2pts)
d) Make a decision based on your hypothesis. (2pts)
Problem 6 (10 pts)
Davis Outboard Motors Inc. recently developed an epoxy painting process for corrosion protection on exhaust
components. Bill Davis, the owner, wishes to determine whether the lengths of life for the paint are equal for three
different conditions: saltwater, freshwater without weeds, and freshwater with a heavy concentration of weeds.
Accelerated life tests were conducted in the laboratory, and the number of hours the paint lasted before peeling was
recorded.
Saltwater Freshwater Freshwater with Weeds
167.3 160.6 182.7
189.6 177.6 165.4
177.2 185.3 172.9
169.4 168.6 169.2
180.3 176.6 174.7
Use the Kruskal-Wallis test and the .01 level to determine whether the lasting quality of the paint is the same for the
three water conditions.
a) State the null hypothesis and alternative hypothesis (2pts)
b) At 0.05 significance level, what is the decision rule? (2pts)
c) What is the value of test statistics? (2pts)
d) What is your conclusion? (2pts)
e) Make a decision based on your hypothesis. (2pts)
