Assignment title: Management
1
QBM117 Business Statistics
Assignment 3
Due date: 22 January 2017
Value: 12%
Rationale
Assignment 3 is designed to assess the following learning outcomes:
be able to explain the concepts of statistical inference, and apply these to
confidence intervals and tests of hypotheses;
be able to use a statistical package to analyse data appropriately, and then
interpret the output;
be able to evaluate if the assumptions underlying statistical techniques are
valid in a given scenario;
be able to apply basic principles of survey design, such as determination of
appropriate sample sizes and sampling techniques.
be able to explain the standard uses of Statistics in the media and in business
environments, and judge whether the statistical methodology and conclusions
drawn are appropriate;
Presentation
The assignment must be neatly handwritten with any Excel output inserted where
required at the appropriate place in the assignment not in an Appendix at the back of the
assignment.
Marks will be deducted for assignments which do not follow these guidelines.
The assignment is to be uploaded to EASTS as a single Word or PDF file. Assignments
submitted in non-printable formats such as a ZIP file or as a collection of images will not
be marked. If your scanner produces separate graphics files, please paste them into a
Word document before submitting to EASTS. Pages must be numbered, and your name
and student number must be included on every page.
Once you have submitted the assignment, please view your uploaded assignment to
ensure that all the images, graphs etc are visible and formatted correctly2
Question 1 (9 marks) 8 marks plus 1 mark for a sentence which answers the
question for each part.
The amount of time a bank teller spends with each customer is normally distributed
with a mean of 4.2 minutes and a standard deviation of 0.40 minutes.
a. What is the probability a teller spends less than 4 minutes with a randomly
selected customer?
(4 marks)
b. A random sample of 20 customers is selected. What is the probability that the
average time spent per customer will be at least 4 minutes?
(4 marks)
Marking Criteria
0 marks 1 mark 2 marks 3 marks 4 marks
a. 0 of 4
criteria
listed under
4 marks
provided or
correct
1 of 4 criteria
listed under 4
marks
provided or
correct
2 of 4 criteria
listed under 4
marks provided
or correct
3 of 4 criteria
listed under 4
marks
provided or
correct
Correct expression of the
required probability as a
mathematical inequality;
along with relevant fully
labelled diagram; correct
calculations and answer.
b. 0 of 4
criteria
listed under
4 marks
provided or
correct
1 of 4 criteria
listed under 4
marks
provided or
correct
2 of 4 criteria
listed under 4
marks provided
or correct
3 of 4 criteria
listed under 4
marks
provided or
correct
Correct expression of the
required probability as a
mathematical inequality;
along with relevant fully
labelled diagram; correct
calculations and answer.
Sentence
answering
the question
for both
parts not
included.
Sentence
answering the
question for
both parts.3
Question 2 (10 marks)
A random sample of 210 of the applicants for a degree course in Policing Practice was
selected and 43 of them were women.
a. Construct a 95% confidence interval estimate of the true proportion of women
who applied to do this course and write a sentence which interprets the
confidence limits.
(6 marks)
b. Use the appropriate Excel workbook from Estimators.xls to construct a 99%
confidence interval estimate of the true proportion of women who applied to
do this course. Include the resulting Excel output in your answer. Highlight the
upper and lower limits of the confidence interval and write down whether this
interval is narrower or wider than the interval in part a.
(4 marks)
Marking Criteria
0 marks 1 mark 2 marks 3 marks 4 marks
a.
Construction
of Interval
None of 4
aspects listed
under 4 marks
correct or
included
1 of the 4
aspects listed
under 4 marks
correct or
included
2 of the 4
aspects listed
under 4 marks
correct or
included
3 of the 4
aspects
listed
under 4
marks
correct or
included
Correct choice of
formula for CI; any
necessary
conditions stated
and checked;
correct
substitution into
formula; correct
calculations.
Interpretation
of interval.
Limits not
stated or
incorrect; no
interpretation
of interval in
the context of
this question.
Limits correct
but
interpretation
incorrect or
missing;
Limits correct;
interpretation
correct in
context of this
question.
b. None of 4
aspects listed
under 4 marks
correct or
included.
1 of the 4
aspects listed
under 4 marks
correct or
included.
2 of the 4
aspects listed
under 4 marks
correct or
included.
3 of the 4
aspects
listed
under 4
marks
correct or
included.
Correct choice of
workbook
presented; correct
substitution into
workbook; upper
and lower limits
highlighted;
correct assessment
of width of
interval.4
Question 3 (6 marks)
A random sample of 36 packets was selected from a day's production of 200 gm
packets of cooking chocolate. The weight of each packet was measured and recorded.
The mean weight of the sample was 203.4 gm with a standard deviation of 11 gm.
Construct a 99% confidence interval estimate of the true mean weight of the 200 gm
packets of cooking chocolate produced that day. Interpret the confidence limits.
Assume the weights of the packets to be normally distributed.
(6 marks)
Marking Criteria
0 marks 1 mark 2 marks 3 marks 4 marks
Construction
of Interval
None of 4
aspects listed
under 4 marks
correct or
included
1 of the 4
aspects listed
under 4 marks
correct or
included
2 of the 4
aspects listed
under 4 marks
correct or
included
3 of the 4
aspects
listed
under 4
marks
correct or
included
Correct choice of
formula for CI;
correct value from
tables, correct
substitution into
formula; correct
calculations.
Interpretation
of
interval/limits.
Limits not
stated or
incorrect; no
interpretation
of interval in
the context of
this question.
Limits correct
but
interpretation
incorrect or
missing;
Limits correct;
interpretation
correct in
context of this
question.
Question 4 (15 marks)
Long stays in the Intensive Care Units (ICU) of hospitals are costly and burdensome
to patients, their families and society. Much research is being done into the factors
which influence the length of stay in ICU in an effort to find ways of reducing the
number of days spent by patients in ICU. In one hospital, the average length of stay in
ICU was 9.5 days with a standard deviation of 1 day. It was proposed that better
communication between the healthcare teams in ICU and the families could reduce
the average length of time spent in ICU. A specialised communications team that
included the medical registrar and the ICU manager was established to increase
communication between the healthcare personnel and the patients' families. After 12
months of this team operating, a study found that the average length of stay was now
6.1 days.
a. Use a 5% level of significance, to test whether there is evidence to support the
use of a specialized communications team to reduce the average length of stay
in ICU.
(9 marks)
b. Use the appropriate Excel macro in Test Statistics.xls to obtain the output you
would use to carry out the hypothesis test in part a. Include the Excel output as
your answer to part b.
(2 marks)5
c. Use the output produced in part b. to test the same hypotheses using a 1%
level of significance. (Hint: This means you will have to use a decision rule in
terms of a p-value.) You must re-state your hypotheses, include the decision
rule in terms of a p-value and make the appropriate comparison in order to
come to a decision whether to reject the null hypothesis or not. You must also
add a written conclusion to answer the question asked.
(4 marks)
Marking Criteria
0 mark 1 mark 2 marks 3 marks 4 marks
a. Hypotheses No correct
hypotheses.
One correct
hypothesis
including
correct
parameter, and
equality or
inequality sign.
Both hypotheses
correct with
correct parameter
and equality or
inequality sign.
Test statistic Incorrect
choice of test
statistic.
Correct choice
of test statistic.
Decision rule 0 of 2 aspects
listed under 2
marks correct.
1 of 2 aspects
listed under 2
marks correct.
Correct critical
value and
decision rule.
Calculation
of Test
statistic
0 of 2 aspects
listed under 2
marks correct.
1 of 2 aspects
listed under 2
marks correct.
Correct
substitution into
formula and
correct numerical
calculation
Decision and
conclusion
in the
context of
the
questions
0 of 2 aspects
listed under 2
marks correct.
1 of 2 aspects
listed under 2
marks correct.
Correct decision
and written
conclusion in the
context of the
question
b. Neither of 2
aspects listed
under 2 marks
correct or
included.
1 of the 2
aspects listed
under 2 marks
correct or
included.
Correct choice of
workbook
presented;
correct
substitution into
workbook;
.
c. None of 4
aspects listed
under 4 marks
correct or
included.
1 of the 4
aspects listed
under 4 marks
correct or
included.
2 of the 4 aspects
listed under 4
marks correct or
included.
3 of the 4
aspects listed
under 4 marks
correct or
included.
Hypotheses
restated; correct
decision rule in
terms of p-value;
correct decision
and conclusion in
terms of the
question asked.6
Question 5 (16 marks)
Many consumers use credit cards for everyday purchases. There are over 16 million
credit cards in Australia. A major bank is interested in the proportion of their credit
card customers who have additional credit cards from other financial institutions.
Approximately 50% of all credit card holders have only one credit card. A survey of
the bank's credit card holders in the age group 18 to 35 olds found that 61% of this
age group had only one credit card.
a. Use a 5% level of significance to test the hypothesis that for 18 to 35 year olds,
the proportion of credit card holders who have only one credit card is more
than the proportion for all credit card holders.
(10 marks)
b. Use the appropriate Excel workbook from Test Statistics.xls to produce the
relevant output to perform the hypothesis test in part a. Include the Excel
output as your answer for this part.
(2 marks)
c. Suppose the same hypothesis test were to be carried out using a level of
significance of 0.01 (instead of 0.05). Use the Excel output you obtained as
your answer to part b. to carry out this hypothesis test. You must re-state your
hypotheses from part a., include the decision rule in terms of a p-value and
make the appropriate comparison in order to come to a decision whether to
reject the null hypothesis or not. You must also add a written conclusion to
answer the question asked. It is not necessary to recheck any assumptions.
(4 marks)7
Marking Criteria
a. 0 mark 1 mark 2 marks 3 marks 4 marks
Hypotheses No correct
hypotheses.
One correct
hypothesis
including
correct
parameter, and
equality or
inequality sign.
Both hypotheses
correct with correct
parameter and
equality or inequality
sign.
Test statistic
and required
conditions
checked
0 of 2 aspects
listed under 2
marks correct.
1 of 2 aspects
listed under 2
marks correct.
Required conditions
checked and correct
choice of test statistic.
Decision rule
0 of 2 aspects
listed under 2
marks correct.
1 of 2 aspects
listed under 2
marks correct.
Correct critical value
and decision rule.
Calculation
of Test
statistic
0 of 2 aspects
listed under 2
marks correct.
1 of 2 aspects
listed under 2
marks correct.
Correct substitution
into formula and
correct numerical
calculation
Decision and
conclusion
in context of
question
asked
0 of 2 aspects
listed under 2
marks correct.
1 of 2 aspects
listed under 2
marks correct.
Correct decision and
written conclusion in
the context of the
question
b. Neither of 2
aspects listed
under 2 marks
correct or
included
1 of the 2
aspects listed
under 2 marks
correct or
included ed.
Correct choice of
workbook presented;
correct substitution
into workbook
c. None of 4
aspects listed
under 4 marks
correct or
included.
1 of the 4
aspects listed
under 4 marks
correct or
included.
2 of the 4 aspects listed
under 4 marks correct
or included
3 of the 4 aspects
listed under 4
marks correct or
included.
Hypotheses restated;
correct decision rule
in terms of p-value;
correct decision with
reference to p-value,
and conclusion in
terms of the question
asked.8
Question 6 (5 marks)
An office administrator in charge of a company's call centre, wishes to estimate the
length of time that callers who abandon their calls to its call centre wait before
abandoning their calls. The administrator would like to estimate this to within 45
seconds of the true length of time with 95% confidence. A survey found that
customers who abandoned their calls waited on average 6.5 minutes with a standard
deviation of 16 minutes. Use this information as appropriate, to calculate the required
sample size for the estimate.
Marking Criteria
0 marks 1 mark 2 marks 3 marks 4 marks 5 marks
None of 5
aspects
listed under
5 marks
correct or
included.
1 of the 5
aspects
listed under
5 marks
correct or
included.
2 of the 5
aspects
listed under
5 marks
correct or
included.
3 of the 5
aspects
listed under
5 marks
correct or
included.
4 of the 5
aspects listed
under 5 marks
correct or
included.
Correct sample size supported
by correct formula,
substitution, numerical
calculations and written
answer in the context of the
question.