Final answer:
To determine if there has been a change in student attendance, we can perform a hypothesis test. The test statistic can be calculated using the provided data, and the p-value can be determined from the standard normal distribution table or a calculator.
Step-by-step explanation:
To determine if there has been a change in student attendance, we can perform a hypothesis test. The null hypothesis (H0) is that the proportion of students not absent is still 34%, while the alternative hypothesis (HA) is that the proportion has changed from 34%.
Given that we have a large sample size (8,400 students) and proportions, we can use the normal approximation to perform the test. The test statistic can be calculated using the formula:
z = (p - p0) / sqrt(p0(1 - p0) / n),
where p is the sample proportion, p0 is the hypothesized proportion, and n is the sample size.
Using the given data, we can calculate the test statistic:
z = (0.33 - 0.34) / sqrt(0.34(1 - 0.34) / 8400) = -1.6528.
The p-value can be calculated using the standard normal distribution table or a calculator. From the table, the p-value is approximately 0.0987.