IE 323 Statistical Methods in Industrial Engineering

Exam 2
Sample Problems

1. Consider a manufacturer's claim that bricks produced by a new and more efficient process have a
mean compressive strength greater than 50.0 (measured in units of 100 pounds per square inch).
Bricks that do not meet this standard are considered nonconforming and will not be used by the
customer. From past experience, it is known that the mean compressive strength of bricks is normally
distributed with a standard deviation of 6. The bricks will not be accepted unless we can be
reasonably sure that the mean is greater than 50.0. A random sample of nine bricks is taken.
(a) State the appropriate null and alternative hypotheses.
(b) Suppose we use the rejection region { > 53} to test the null hypothesis. Compute the Type I
error probability for the test. Depict the Type I error graphically.
(c) Compute the Type II error probability at the alternative = 55. Depict the Type I error from part
(b) and the Type II error graphically.
(d) Compute the Type II error probability at the alternative = 52. Depict the Type I error from part
(b) and the Type II error graphically.
(e) Find the new critical value (in terms of ) such that the corresponding test has significance level
of 0.05. Depict this new significance level and the new critical value graphically.

2. The resistors produced by a manufacturer are required to have an average resistance of 0.150 ohms.
Statistical analysis of the output suggests that the resistances can be approximated by a normal
distribution with known standard deviation of 0.005 ohms. We are interested in testing the
hypothesis that the resistors conform to the specifications.
(a) Determine whether a random sample of 10 resistors yielding a sample mean of 0.152 ohms
indicates that the resistors are conforming. Use = 0.05.
(b) Calculate a 95% confidence interval for the average resistance. How does this interval relate to
your solution of part (a)?

3. The increased availability of light materials with high strength has revolutionized the design and
manufacture of golf clubs, particularly drivers. One measure of drivers that result in much longer tee
shots is known as the coefficient of restitution of the club. An experiment was performed in which 15
drivers produced by a particular club maker were selected at random and their coefficients of
restitution measured. It is of interest to determine if there is evidence to support a claim that the mean
coefficient of restitution exceeds 0.82. Assume values to be normally distributed. The following
observations were obtained for the 15 drivers:
0.8411
0.8580
0.8042

0.8191
0.8532
0.8730

0.8182
0.8483
0.8282

0.8125
0.8276
0.8359

0.8750
0.7983
0.8660

Conduct the test using a significance level of 0.05.

4. Two different weight loss programs are being compared to determine their effectiveness. Ten men
were assigned to each program (that is, a total of 20 men altogether). Their weight losses (in lbs),
after a period of time, are recorded below. We are interested in determining which, if any, of the diets
is more effective in terms of average weight loss. Assume weight loss for each diet to be normally
distributed.
Diet 1
Diet 2

3.4
11.9

10.9
13.1

2.8
11.6

7.8
6.8

0.9
6.8

5.2
8.8

2.5
12.5

10.5
8.6

7.1
17.5

7.5
10.3

Carry out an appropriate test using a significance level of 0.10.

5. The lapping process which is used to grind certain silicon wafers to the proper thickness is acceptable
only if , the population standard deviation of thickness cut from the wafers, is at most 0.50 mil. Use
the 0.05 level of significance to test this variability for a random sample of 15 that produces a
standard deviation of 0.64 mil.

6. Two different analytical tests can be used to determine the impurity level in steel alloys. Eight
specimens are tested using both procedures, and the results are shown in the following table. Is there
sufficient evidence to conclude that both tests give the same mean impurity level, using =0.01?
Specimen
Test 1
Test 2

1
1.2
1.4

2
1.3
1.7

3
1.5
1.5

4
1.4
1.3

5
1.7
2.0

6
1.8
2.1

7
1.4
1.7

8
1.3
1.6

7. A machine in a factory must be repaired if it produces more than 10% defectives in production. A
random sample of 100 items from a day's production contains 15 defectives, and the foreman says
that the machine must be repaired. Statistically, does the sample evidence support his decision to
repair at the 0.01 significance level? Conduct a test by using both the critical region method and the
p-value method.

8. A sample of 300 urban adult residents of a particular state revealed 63 who favored increasing the
highway speed limit from 55 to 65 mph whereas a sample of 180 rural residents yielded 75 who
favored the increase. Does this data indicate that the sentiment for increasing the speed limit is
different for the two groups of residents? Conduct a test by using both the critical region method and
the p-value method using = 0.05.

9. Let X denote the number of heads that appear when five coins are tossed. X is assumed to follow a
binomial distribution with b( i; 5, p), where i = 0, 1,,5 and p = 0.5. The following data records the
frequency distribution of the number of heads in 50 tosses of the five coins.
Number
of heads
0
1
2
3
4
5

Observed
frequency
1
17
15
10
6
1

Test the hypothesis that the data can be fitted by a binomial distribution with p = 0.5 using = 0.05.

10

10. A professor in the School of Business in a university polled a dozen colleagues about the number of
professional meetings they attended in the past five years () and the number of papers they
submitted to refereed journals () during the same period. The summary data are given as follows:

= 12, = 4, = 4

2
=1

= 232 , = 318
=1

Fit a simple linear regression model between and by finding out the estimates of intercept and
slope. Comment on whether attending more professional meetings would result in publishing more
papers.

11