Home / AP® Exam / AP® Statistics / 6.9 Justifying a Claim Based on a Confidence Interval- MCQs

AP Statistics 6.9 Justifying a Claim Based on a Confidence Interval for a Difference of Population Proportions- MCQs - Exam Style Questions

Question

A two-sample t-test of the hypotheses \(H_{0}:\mu_{1}-\mu_{2}=0\) versus \(H_{a}:\mu_{1}-\mu_{2}>0\) produces a p-value of 0.08. Which of the following must be true?

I. A 90 percent confidence interval for the difference in means will contain the value 0.
II. A 95 percent confidence interval for the difference in means will contain the value 0.
III. A 99 percent confidence interval for the difference in means will contain the value 0.

(A) I only
(B) III only
(C) I and II only
(D) II and III only
(E) I, II, and III
▶️ Answer/Explanation
Detailed solution

A confidence interval will contain \(0\) if the corresponding two-sided hypothesis test fails to reject \(H_0\). A test fails to reject if its p-value is greater than \(\alpha\).

The given one-sided p-value is \(0.08\). The corresponding two-sided p-value is \(2 \times 0.08 = 0.16\).

90% CI (\(\alpha=0.10\)): Since \(0.16 > 0.10\), the test fails to reject. The interval contains \(0\). (Statement I is true).
95% CI (\(\alpha=0.05\)): Since \(0.16 > 0.05\), the test fails to reject. The interval contains \(0\). (Statement II is true).
99% CI (\(\alpha=0.01\)): Since \(0.16 > 0.01\), the test fails to reject. The interval contains \(0\). (Statement III is true).

All three statements must be true. (Note: This contradicts the provided answer key, which likely assumes the given p-value was from a two-sided test. Based on the question as written, all three are true).
Answer: (E)

Scroll to Top