Final answer:
To conduct an independent t-test to compare the mean number of employees between male and female business owners, we need to calculate the t-statistic. The t-statistic can be calculated as 1.235.
Step-by-step explanation:
To conduct an independent t-test to compare the mean number of employees between male and female business owners, we need to calculate the t-statistic. The formula for the t-statistic in this case is:
t = (mean(male) - mean(female)) / sqrt((sd(male)^2/n_male) + (sd(female)^2/n_female))
Given the data, the t-statistic can be calculated as: t = (4.43 - 2.56) / sqrt((15.167^2/168) + (10.277^2/126)) = 1.235