Periodically, Merrill Lynch customers are asked to evaluate Merrill Lynch financial consultants and services (2000 Merrill Lynch Client Satisfaction Survey). Higher ratings on the client satisfaction survey indicate better service with 7 the maximum service rating. Independent samples of service ratings for two financial consultants are summarized here. Consultant A has 10 years of experience, whereas consultant B has 1 year of experience. Use= .05 and test to see whether the consultant with more experience has the higher population mean service rating.

Consultant A

n = 16

x = 6.82

s = 0.58

Consultant B

n = 10

x= 6.25

s2= 0.7

a. State the null and alternative hypotheses.

H0:m1 - m2

Ha: m1- m2

• Select
• greater than
• 0greater than or equal to
• less than
• less than or equal to
• equal to
• not equal to

b. Compute the value of the test statistic (to 2 decimals).

c. What is thep-value? Usez-table.

• Thep-value is
• less than .005
• between .005 and .01
• between .01 and .025
• between .025 and .05
• between .05 and .10
• between .10 and .20
• greater than .20 Item 4

d. What is your conclusion?

1. Select

• The consultant with more experience has a higher population mean rating
• Cannot conclude the consultant with more experience has a higher rating