Chapter 9.2, Problem 11P

(c) Find (or estimate) the P-value. Sketch the sampling distribution and show the area corresponding to the P-value.

(d) Based on your answers in parts (a) to (c), will you reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis? Are the data statistically significant at level $\alpha$?

(e) Interpret your conclusion in the context of the application.

Note: For degrees of freedom d.f. not given in the Student's t table, use the closest d.f. that is smaller. In some situations, this choice of d.f. may increase the p-value by a small amount and therefore produce a slightly more “conservative" answer.

Meteorology: Storms Weatherwise is a magazine published by the American Meteorological Society. One issue gives a rating system used to classify Nor'easter storms that frequently hit New England and can cause much damage near the ocean. A severe storm has an average peak wave height of $\mu =16.4$ feet for waves hitting the shore. Suppose that a Nor'easter is in progress at the severe storm class rating. Peak wave heights are usually measured from land (using binoculars) off fixed cement piers. Suppose that a reading of 36 waves showed an average wave height of x = 17.3 feet. Previous studies of severe storms indicate that $$ feet. Does this information suggest that the storm is (perhaps temporarily) increasing above the severe rating? Use $\sigma =0.01$.