Question

Indicate whether it is best assessed by using a confidence interval or a hypothesis test or whether statistical inference is not relevant to answer it. (a) What percent of US voters support instituting a national kindergarten through \(12^{\text {th }}\) grade math curriculum? (b) Do basketball players hit a higher proportion of free throws when they are playing at home than when they are playing away? (c) Do a majority of adults riding a bicycle wear a helmet? (d) On average, were the 23 players on the 2014 Canadian Olympic hockey team older than the 23 players on the 2014 US Olympic hockey team?

Short answer

(a) Confidence interval, (b) Hypothesis test, (c) Hypothesis test, (d) Hypothesis test

Step-by-step solution

Question (a) Analysis

The question is asking about the percentage of US voters that support a particular policy. This is a proportion question asking for an estimate of a population parameter, so a confidence interval would be appropriate.

Question (b) Analysis

This question is comparing proportions of successful free throws between two different situations. It is asking if there is a difference between the two proportions. This lends itself to a hypothesis test, specifically a two-proportion z-test.

Question (c) Analysis

This question is asking whether more than 50% of a particular population - adults who ride bicycles - wear helmets. This is a hypothesis test for a proportion: the null hypothesis would be that 50% or fewer wear helmets, and the alternative hypothesis would be that more than 50% wear helmets.

Question (d) Analysis

This question is comparing the means of two independent samples (the ages of hockey players on two different teams). It's asking whether one mean is greater than the other. This would also be a hypothesis test, specifically a two-sample t-test.