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Health Care Expenses The mean annual expenditure per 25- to 34-year-old consumer for health care is $1468. This includes health insurance, medical services, and drugs and medical supplies. Students at a large university took a survey, and it was found that for a sample of 60 students, the mean health care expense was $1520, and the population standard deviation is $198.

a) Is there sufficient evidence at α = 0.01 to conclude that their health care expenditure differs from the national average of $1468?

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Based on the available information, there is no sufficient evidence that at a =0.01 we can conclude that their healthcare expenditure differs from the national average of $1468

To determine if there is sufficient evidence to conclude that the healthcare expenditure of the students differs from the national average, we can conduct a hypothesis test.

Let's set up the null and alternative hypotheses:

Null hypothesis (H0): The mean healthcare expenditure of the students is equal to the national average ($1468).

Alternative hypothesis (Ha): The mean healthcare expenditure of the students is different from the national average ($1468).

We can use a t-test since we have the sample mean, sample size, and population standard deviation.

Given:

Sample mean (x) = $1520

Population standard deviation (σ) = $198

Sample size (n) = 60

Significance level (α) = 0.01

To conduct the t-test, we calculate the test statistic using the formula:

t = (x - μ) / (σ / √n)

where x is the sample mean, μ is the population mean, σ is the population standard deviation, and n is the sample size.

In this case, the population mean is $1468.

t = (1520 - 1468) / (198 / √60)

t = 52 / (198 / √60)

t ≈ 52 / 25.51

t ≈ 2.04

Next, we compare the calculated t-value with the critical t-value from the t-distribution table at the given significance level and degrees of freedom (n - 1).

Since we have a two-tailed test, we divide the significance level (α) by 2 to get the critical values for both tails.

At α = 0.01, the critical t-value for a two-tailed test with 59 degrees of freedom is approximately ±2.66.

Since the calculated t-value (2.04) is less than the critical t-value (2.66), we fail to reject the null hypothesis.

Therefore, there is not sufficient evidence at α = 0.01 to conclude that the health care expenditure of the students differs from the national average of $1468.

User Iman Marashi
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