Yes, your conclusions for 1 and 2 are correct.

  • Thread starter Thread starter needhelp83
  • Start date Start date
Click For Summary
SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the statistical analysis of Buffon's coin toss experiment, where he flipped a coin 4040 times, resulting in 2048 heads. The null hypothesis (Ho: p=0.5) was tested against the alternative hypothesis (Ha: p≠0.5) using a calculated test statistic of 0.875 and a p-value of 0.3788, leading to the conclusion that there is insufficient evidence to reject Ho. Additionally, an 80% confidence interval for p was calculated as (0.497, 0.517), which includes 0.5, confirming that the coin is likely balanced. The discussion also raises a question about applying continuity correction in this context.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of null and alternative hypotheses in hypothesis testing
  • Familiarity with calculating test statistics and p-values
  • Knowledge of confidence intervals and their interpretation
  • Basic concepts of continuity correction in statistical analysis
NEXT STEPS
  • Study the application of continuity correction in hypothesis testing
  • Learn about the Central Limit Theorem and its implications for sample proportions
  • Explore the use of Z-scores in constructing confidence intervals
  • Investigate the differences between one-tailed and two-tailed hypothesis tests
USEFUL FOR

Statisticians, data analysts, students in statistics courses, and anyone interested in hypothesis testing and confidence intervals.

needhelp83
Messages
193
Reaction score
0
A coin that is balanced should come up heads half the time in the long run. The population for coin tossing contains the results of tossing the coin forever. The parameter p is the probability of a head, which is the proportion of all tosses that give a head. The tosses we actually make are a random sample from this population. Count Buffon tosses a coin 4040 times.He got 2048 heads.

1. Test the null hypothesis that Buffon flipped a balanced coin against the t sided alternative. State the null and alt hypothesis in terms of p, calc an appropriate test stat, p-value, and interpret the p-value as it applies to this particular problem.

Ho: p=.5
Ha: p != .5

n = 4040
\hat{p}=\frac{2048}{4040}=.507

Test stat: \frac{\hat{p}-p_0}{\sqrt{p_0(1-p_0}/n}=\frac{.507-.5}{\sqrt{.5(1-.5}/4040}=\frac{.007}{.008}=.875

P-value = 2[1-\Phi(|.875|)]=2(1-.8106)=.3788

The pvalue is very high thus we cannot reject Ho in favor of Ha. Buffon's experiment doesn't show the coin is unbalanced.

2. Argue whether or not an 80% CI for p would contain 0.5
\widehat{p}\pm Z_{\alpha/2}\sqrt{\frac{\widehat{p}(1-\widehat{p}}{n}}=.507\pm 1.282\sqrt{\frac{.507(1-.507)}{4040}}=(.497,.517)

Yes, we are 80% confident that the probability of a head would range between .497 and .517. 0.5 is contained in this interval.

My questions are if I have properly concluded 1 and 2. Thanks!
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Assuming this is correct, how do I perform Continuity Correction on this problem. I am not exactly sure how this works.

From what I am aware, you have to add .5 to the discrete value. Is this right?
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
974
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
3K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
1K
Replies
12
Views
4K
Replies
2
Views
2K
  • · Replies 16 ·
Replies
16
Views
3K
  • · Replies 61 ·
3
Replies
61
Views
10K
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
2K
Replies
14
Views
4K
  • · Replies 14 ·
Replies
14
Views
3K