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State the null and alternative hypotheses: the average age of first-year medical school students is more than 27 years.

User Loa
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Final answer:

To test if the average age of first-year medical school students is more than 27 years, the null hypothesis would be μ ≤ 27 and the alternative hypothesis would be μ > 27. A p-value lower than the significance level would lead to rejecting the null hypothesis, suggesting the average age is indeed more than 27.

Step-by-step explanation:

When stating the null and alternative hypotheses to test whether the average age of first-year medical school students is more than 27 years, we use the following notation:

  • H0 (null hypothesis): μ ≤ 27 (The average age is 27 years or less.)
  • Ha (alternative hypothesis): μ > 27 (The average age is more than 27 years.)

If the p-value retrieved from the statistical test is much lower than the chosen significance level (in this case, 0.01 for a 1% significance level), we would reject the null hypothesis. This would suggest there is evidence to support the claim that the average age of first-year medical school students is indeed more than 27 years. If however, the p-value is larger than the significance level, we would fail to reject the null hypothesis, indicating insufficient evidence to support the alternative hypothesis.

User Paul Latzelsperger
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