MA145 Final Exam - Takehome Portion
For each of the problems below, use the MA145 technology guide to perform a statistical analysis.
You should justify your choice of method, including any assumptions made in the use of the method.
You should indicate whether a two-tailed, left-tailed, or right-tailed analysis is appropriate,
and, in hypothesis testing problems, state the null and alternative hypotheses.
If the problem does not specify a level of significance, you should choose one.
Problem 1
Social services data on the placement of 108 children under the age of 12 in foster care
shows that in 76 cases where family counselling was not employed, the average time in
foster care was 78.1 days with a standard deviation of 21.9. In 32 cases where family
counselling was employed, the average time was 59.8 days with a standard deviation of
25.3. Does this data support the claim that family counselling reduces the time in
foster care for children under 12?
Problem 2
A study examines the number of low birth weight babies born to 56 mothers without health insurance and 33 mothers with health insurance that provides prenatal care. There were 18 low birth weight
children in the no insurance group, and 7 in the group with insurance. Does this data support
the conclusion that the availability of insurance coverage for prenatal care results in
fewer low birth weight deliveries?
Problem 3
A training program is designed to provide instruction in resume writing and interview skills.
In a pilot program, 38 out of 92 participants find employment within 8 weeks of completing
the program. Construct a 95% confidence interval for the proportion of participants that
will succeed in finding employment within 8 weeks.