Masculinity and crime. The Journal of Sociology (July 2003) published a study on the link between the level of masculinity and criminal behavior in men. Using a sample of newly incarcerated men in Nebraska, the researcher identified 1,171 violent events and 532 events in which violence was avoided that the men were involved in. (A violent event involved the use of a weapon, throwing of objects, punching, choking, or kicking. An event in which violence was avoided included pushing, shoving, grabbing, or threats of violence that did not escalate into a violent event.) Each of the sampled men took the Masculinity-Femininity Scale (MFS) test to determine his level of masculinity, based on common male stereotyped traits. MFS scores ranged from 0 to 56 points, with lower scores indicating a more masculine orientation. One goal of the research was to compare the mean MFS scores for two groups of men:

those involved in violent events and those who avoided violent events.

a. Identify the target parameter for this study.

b. The sample mean MFS score for the violent-event group was 44.50, while the sample mean MFS score for the avoided-violent-event group was 45.06. Is this sufficient information to make the comparison desired by the researcher? Explain.

c. In a large-sample test of hypothesis to compare the two means, the test statistic was computed to be z = 1.21.

Compute the two-tailed p-value of the test.

d. Make the appropriate conclusion, using a = .10.