Suppose a recent random sample of employees nationwide that have a 401(k)
retirement plan found that 18% of them had borrowed against it in the last year. A
random sample of 100 employees from a local company who have a 401(k) retirement
plan found that 14 had borrowed from their plan. Based on the sample results, is it
possible to conclude, at the α = 0.025 level of significance, that the local company had a
lower proportion of borrowers from its 401(k) retirement plan than the 18% reported
nationwide?
A) The z-critical value for this lower tailed test is z = -1.96. Because -1.5430 is greater
than the z-critical value we do not reject the null hypothesis and conclude that the
proportion of employees at the local company who borrowed from their 401(k)
retirement plan is not less than the national average.
B) The z-critical value for this lower tailed test is z = -1.96. Because -1.0412 is greater
than the z-critical value we do not reject the null hypothesis and conclude that the
proportion of employees at the local company who borrowed from their 401(k)
retirement plan is not less than the national average.
C) The z-critical value for this lower tailed test is z = 1.96. Because 1.5430 is less than
the z-critical value we do not reject the null hypothesis and conclude that the proportion
of employees at the local company who borrowed from their 401(k) retirement plan is
not less than the national average.
D) The z-critical value for this lower tailed test is z = 1.96. Because 1.0412 is less than
the z-critical value we do not reject the null hypothesis and conclude that the proportion
of employees at the local company who borrowed from their 401(k) retirement plan is
not less than the national average.
In an article entitled “Childhood Pastimes Are Increasingly Moving Indoors,” Dennis
Cauchon asserts that there have been huge declines in spontaneous outdoor activities
such as bike riding, swimming, and touch football. In the article, he cites separate
studies by the national Sporting Goods Association and American Sports Data that
indicate bike riding alone is down 31% from 1995 to 2004. According to the surveys,