The Institute of Education Sciences measures the high school dropout rate as the percentage of 16-through 24-year-olds who are not enrolled in school and have not earned a high school credential. Last year, the high school dropout rate was 8.1%. A polling company recently took a survey of 1,000 people between the ages of 16 and 24 and found that 6.5% of them are high school dropouts. The polling company would like to determine whether the dropout rate has decreased. When testing whether the dropout rate has decreased, the appropriate hypotheses are ________. A) H₀: p ≤ 0.065, H_A: p 0.065 B) H₀: ≥ 0.065, H_A:

Question

The Institute of Education Sciences measures the high school dropout rate as the percentage of 16-through 24-year-olds who are not enrolled in school and have not earned a high school credential. Last year, the high school dropout rate was 8.1%. A polling company recently took a survey of 1,000 people between the ages of 16 and 24 and found that 6.5% of them are high school dropouts. The polling company would like to determine whether the dropout rate has decreased. When testing whether the dropout rate has decreased, the appropriate hypotheses are ________. A) H₀: p ≤ 0.065, H_A: p > 0.065 B) H₀: ≥ 0.065, H_A: < 0.065 C) H₀: p = 0.081, H_A: p ≠ 0.081 D) H₀: p ≥ 0.081, H_A: p < 0.081

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The appropriate null hypothesis (H₀) is that the dropout rate is greater than or equal to 8.1% (the rate from the previous year), while the alternative hypothesis (H_A) is that the dropout rate is less than 8.1%. This is because the polling company wants to determine if the dropout rate has decreased. The appropriate level of significance for this test is not given in the question, but a common choice is 0.05. Therefore, the correct answer is D: H₀: p ≥ 0.081, H_A: p < 0.081.

The Institute of Education Sciences Measures the High School Dropout