Rare Events, the Sample, Decision and Conclusion · Exercise 14

Suppose that a recent article stated that the mean time spent in jail by a first-time convicted burglar is 2.5 years. A study was then done to see if the mean time has increased in the new century. A random sample of 26 first-time convicted burglars in a recent year was picked. The mean length of time in jail from the survey was three years with a standard deviation of 1.8 years. Suppose that it is somehow known that the population standard deviation is 1.5. Conduct a hypothesis test to determine if the mean length of jail time has increased. Assume the distribution of the jail times is approximately normal.

Calculate the following:
(a) $\bar{x}$ _______
(b) σ _______
(c) s_x _______
(d) n _______

OpenStax, Introductory Statistics 2e · §9.4 Rare Events, the Sample, Decision and Conclusion · Exercise 14