How much do you think the average adult woman weighs? Let’s imagine that a researcher, in response to available evidence from both the media and society, entertains the assumption that men believe that women weigh less than they actually do. Consequently, the researcher hypothesizes that men will give lower estimates of the average woman’s weight than will women. To test this hypothesis, the researcher asks samples of men and women, “How much (in pounds) do you believe the average adult woman weighs?” The researcher reports the following descriptive statistics regarding the mean estimate of weight: Men: N = 13, M = 135.62, s = 19.78, Women: N = 13, M = 137.69, s = 12.68.

a. State the null and alternative hypotheses (H₀ and H₁).

b. Make a decision about the null hypothesis.
(1) Calculate the degrees of freedom (df).
(2) For α = .05 (two-tailed), identify the critical values and state a decision rule.
(3) Calculate the t-test for independent means.
(4) Make a decision whether to reject the null hypothesis.
(5) Determine the level of significance.

c. Draw a conclusion from the analysis.

d. Relate the result of the analysis to the research hypothesis.