Assignment 2: Conducting a z-Test

A researcher predicts that watching a film on institutionalization will change students’ attitudes about chronically mentally ill patients. The researcher randomly selects a class of 36 students, shows them the film, and gives them a questionnaire about their attitudes. The mean score on the questionnaire for these 36 students is 70. The score for people in general on this questionnaire is 75, with a standard deviation of 12. Using the five steps of hypothesis testing and the 5% significance level (i.e. alpha = .05), does showing the film change students’ attitudes towards the chronically mentally ill?

What does it mean to set alpha at .05?
What is your null hypothesis? Alternate hypothesis?
Is this a one-tailed or two-tailed hypothesis?
What is the critical z?
Calculate the obtained z. Do you reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis?
State in words what you have found.
Assignment 2 Grading Criteria
Maximum Points
Explained what it means to set alpha at .05.
11
Correctly identified the null and alternative hypotheses.
11
Correctly identified and explained whether theirs is a one-tailed or two-tailed hypothesis.
11
Correctly identified the critical z.
11
Used obtained z and explained whether one would reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis, and state in words what the findings were.

20
Wrote in a clear, concise, and organized manner; demonstrated ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; displayed accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
16
Total:
80