Exploring Inferential Statistics and Their Discontents

(Question 1) Researchers at a food company are interested in how a new spaghetti sauce made from green tomatoes (and green in color) will compare to their traditional red spaghetti sauce. They are worried that the green color will adversely affect the tastiness scores. They randomly assign subjects to either the green or red sauce condition. Participants indicate the tastiness of the sauce on a 10-point scale. Tastiness scores tend to be skewed. The scores follow.

Red Sauce Green Sauce

7 4

6 5

9 6

10 8

6 7

7 6

8 9

a. What statistical test should be used to analyze these data?

b. Identify H0 and Ha for this study.

c. Conduct the appropriate analysis.

d. Should H0 be rejected? What should the researcher conclude?

(Question 2) You notice in your introductory psychology class that more women tend to sit up front, and more men sit in the back. To determine whether this difference is significant, you collect data on the seating preferences for the students in your class. The data follow.

Men Women

Front of the Room 15 27

Back of the Room 32 19

a. What is X2obt?

b. What is df for this test?

c. What is X2cv?

d. What conclusion should be drawn from these results?