Chapter 9.3, Problem 9.55E

a)

To determine

To explain whether the concluded that these four people have ESP.

Answer to Problem 9.55E

No.

Explanation of Solution

Given:

n = 500

  $x$ = 4

P-value <0.01

First need to know about the p-value:

The P-value is the probability that the sample proportion is more extreme than in the sample, when the null hypothesis is true.

We expect about 1% of the 500 subjects to have a p-value of 0.01. That means, 5 subjects or less should be have p-value below 0.01. Thus it is likely that these 4 subjects with a p-value below 0.01 had no ESP.

b)

To determine

To explain that researcher can do these four people have ESP.

Explanation of Solution

Given:

These 4 subjects with a p-value below 0.01 had no ESP.

For better performance, researcher can take test again these 4 subjects for ESP. If they again perform significantly better than random guessing then they most likely have ESP.