A preliminary study of hourly wages paid to unskilled employees in three metropolitan areas was conducted. Seven employees were included from Area A, 9 from Area B, and 12 from Area C. The test statistic was computed to be 4.91. What can we conclude at the 0.05 level?
A) The mean hourly wages of unskilled employees of all areas are equal.
B) The mean hourly wages in at least two metropolitan areas are different.
C) More degrees of freedom are needed.
D) None of these is correct.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The test statistic of 4.91 exceeds the critical value of 3.34 at the 0.05 level for a three-group comparison using the F-distribution. Therefore, we reject the null hypothesis that the mean hourly wages of unskilled employees of all areas are equal and conclude that the mean hourly wages in at least two metropolitan areas are different.

A Preliminary Study of Hourly Wages Paid to Unskilled Employees