Final answer:
To test if the population mean waiting time is less than 5 minutes, a hypothesis test is used. If the p-value calculated from the sample data is less than the significance level of 0.05, the null hypothesis could be rejected, suggesting the mean waiting time is indeed less than 5 minutes.
Step-by-step explanation:
To determine whether the population mean waiting time is less than 5 minutes, a hypothesis test can be performed using sample data. In this scenario, we would set up a null hypothesis (H₀) that the population mean is equal to or greater than 5 minutes, and an alternative hypothesis (H₁) that the population mean is less than 5 minutes. Since specific data is not provided for the 15 customer sample, we cannot compute the actual test statistic or p-value here. However, using statistical software or a calculator, one would usually calculate the test statistic and corresponding p-value, and if the p-value is less than the significance level (in this case, 5 percent), we would reject the null hypothesis and conclude that there is evidence that the population mean waiting time is less than 5 minutes.