Chapter CR, Problem 5E

Hospital variables A random sample of 1000 patients was taken from a large medical center database. The six variables included are Sex (M/F), Age (years), Insurance coverage (yes/ no), Number of children (0–10), Marital status (single, married, divorced, widowed), Number of appointments that patient had in 2017, and Number of appointments that patient had in 2018.

For each question below, tell what type of test or analysis should be used to make an inference about the large database from the data in the sample. When appropriate, specify the test, the statistic (e.g., t, z, etc.), whether one or two samples are used, and whether the test is one- or two-sided. (For example, your answer may be a one-sided, two-sample t-test for the difference of two means.)

1. a) Is the percentage of males 50%?
2. b) Is the percentage covered by insurance the same for both men and women?
3. c) Were there more appointments in 2018 than in 2017?
4. d) Is the mean age of women the same as the mean age of men?
5. e) Can you predict the number of appointments in 2018 from the number in 2017?