Shopping on Black Friday. The day after Thanksgiving—

called Black Friday—is one of the largest shopping days in the United States. Winthrop University researchers conducted interviews with a sample of 38 women shopping on Black Friday to gauge their shopping habits and reported the results in the International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management (Vol. 39, 2011). One question was “How many hours do you usually spend shopping LO6 on Black Friday?” Data for the 38 shoppers are listed in the accompanying table.

a. Describe the population of interest to the researchers.

b. What is the quantitative variable of interest to the researchers?

c. Use the information in the table to estimate the population mean number of hours spent shopping on Black Friday with a 95% confidence interval.

d. Give a practical interpretation of the interval.

e. A retail store advertises that the true mean number of hours spent shopping on Black Friday is 5.5 hours.

Should the store be sued for false advertising? Explain.

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