Accounting and Machiavellianism. Behavioral Research in Accounting (Jan. 2008) published a study of Machiavellian traits in accountants. (Machiavellian describes negative character traits that include manipulation, cunning, duplicity, deception, and bad faith.) A Machiavellian (“Mach”)

rating score was determined for each in a sample of 122 purchasing managers with the following results: x = 99.6, s = 12.6. (Note: Scores range from a low of 40 to a high of 160, with the theoretical neutral Mach rating score of 100.)

A director of purchasing at a major firm claims that the true mean Mach rating score of all purchasing managers is 85.

a. Specify the null and alternative hypotheses for a test of the director’s claim.

b. Define a Type I error for this test.

c. Interpret the value, a = .10.

d. Give the rejection region for the test using a = .10.

e. Find the value of the test statistic.

f. Use the result, part

e, to make the appropriate conclusion.

g. Do you need to make any assumptions about the distribution of Mach rating scores for the population of all purchasing managers? Explain.