A philosophy professor wants to find out whether the mean age of the men in his large lecture class is equal to the mean age of the women in his class. After collecting data from a random sample of his students, the professor tested the hypothesis H₀: µM - µW = 0 against the alternative HA: µM -
ΜW ×0. The P-value for the test was 0.003. Which is true?
A) There is a 0.3% chance that the mean ages for the men and women are different.
B) There is a 0.3% chance that the mean ages for the men and women are equal.
C) It is very unlikely that the professor would see results like these if the mean age of men was equal to the mean age of women.
D) There is a 0.3% chance that another sample will give these same results.
E) There is a 99.7% chance that another sample will give these same results.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The P-value is the probability of obtaining a sample mean as extreme or more extreme than the observed sample mean, given that the null hypothesis is true. A P-value of 0.003 indicates that the observed sample mean difference is quite rare if the null hypothesis is true. Therefore, we reject the null hypothesis and conclude that the mean age of men is not equal to the mean age of women in the class. Choice C is the correct answer because it correctly interprets the result as evidence against the null hypothesis.

A Philosophy Professor Wants to Find Out Whether the Mean