Final answer:
A sociologist is interested in the effects of racism on birth weight and wants to test the null hypothesis of no difference in mean birth weight between two groups. The sociologist constructs a dataset of birth weights and self-reported experiences with racism during pregnancy. Statistical analysis can be used to compare the mean birth weights of the two groups.
Step-by-step explanation:
The sociologist is interested in the effects of racism on birth weight. In order to test the null hypothesis of no difference in mean birth weight between two groups, the sociologist constructs a dataset containing the birth weight of African American children and their mothers' self-reported experience with racism during pregnancy. The two groups are divided based on whether the mothers reported experiencing no race-related incidents or at least one experience of racism during pregnancy. Assuming normally distributed birth weights, a statistical test can be used to compare the mean birth weight of the two groups.