QuestionUse a t-distribution to answer this question. Assume the samples are random samples from distributions that are reasonably normally distributed, and that a -statistic will be used for inference about the difference in sample means. State the degrees of freedom used.
Find the endpoints of the -distribution with beyond them in each tail if the samples have sizes and .
Enter the exact number for the degrees of freedom and round your answer for the endpoints to two decimal places.
degrees of freedom =
endpoints
Studdy Solution
STEP 1
What is this asking?
We need to find the *degrees of freedom* and the *critical t-value* for a two-tailed t-distribution with a combined sample size of 18 and a significance level of 0.10 (that's 5% in each tail).
Watch out!
Don't mix up one-tailed and two-tailed t-values!
We're looking for the t-value that cuts off 5% in *each* tail, not a total of 5%.
STEP 2
1. Calculate Degrees of Freedom
2. Find the Critical t-Value
STEP 3
When dealing with two samples, the degrees of freedom for a t-distribution are calculated using a slightly tricky formula.
It's not just adding the sample sizes!
The formula is: , where is the size of the first sample and is the size of the second sample.
STEP 4
In our case, and .
Let's plug these values into our formula: .
STEP 5
So, .
We have **16** degrees of freedom!
STEP 6
We're looking for the t-value that leaves 5% in each tail.
This means we're looking for a two-tailed t-value with an *alpha* of 10% (5% in each tail adds up to 10%).
We also know our degrees of freedom are **16**.
STEP 7
Now, we need to consult a t-table or use a calculator to find this critical t-value.
Look up the value corresponding to **16** degrees of freedom and a two-tailed alpha of **0.10**.
STEP 8
The critical t-value is approximately .
This means that 5% of the t-distribution lies beyond and another 5% lies below .
STEP 9
Degrees of freedom = **16** Endpoints =
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