Chapter 10, Problem 7PS

When people make estimates, they are influenced by anchors to their estimates. A study was conducted in which were asked to estimate the number of calories in a cheeseburger. One group was asked to do this after thinking about a calorie-laden cheesecake. A second group was asked to do this after thinking about an organic fruit salad. The mean number of calories estimated in a cheeseburger was 780 for the group that thought about the cheesecake and 1,041 for the group that thought about the organic fruit salad.

Suppose that the study was based on a sample of 20 people who thought about the cheesecake first and 20 people who thought about the organic fruit salad first, and the standard deviation of the number of calories in the cheeseburger was 128 for the people who thought about the cheesecake first and 140 for the people who thought about the organic fruit salad first.

a. State the null and alternative hypotheses if you want to determine whether the mean estimated number of calories in the cheese-burger is lower for the people who thought about the cheesecake first than for people who thought about the organic fruit salad first.

b. In the context of this study, what is the meaning of the Type I or error?

c. In the context of this study, what is the meaning of the Type II error?

d. At the 0.01 level of significance, is there evidence that the mean estimated number of calories in the cheeseburger is lower for the people who thought about the cheesecake first than for the people who thought about the organic fruit salad first?

e. If you were developing a commercial for a cheeseburger, based on the results of (d), what other foods might you show in the commercial?