Question

Suppose you wish to compare a new method of teaching reading to “slow learners” to the current standard method. You decide to base this comparison on the results of a reading test given at the end of a learning period of 6 months. Of a random sample of 20 slow learners, 8 are taught by the new method and 12 are taught by the standard method. All 20 children are taught by qualified instructors under similar conditions for a 6-month period. The results of the reading test at the end of this period are given below.

Reading Test scores for slow learners:
New Method : 80 76 80 66 79 79 81 76

Standard Method : 79 73 72 62 76 68 70 86 75 68 73 66

a) Can the 95 % confidence interval for the difference between the population mean test scores for the new method and the standard method be calculated? Why or why not?

b) Construct the appropriate 95 % confidence interval for the difference between the population mean test scores for the new method and the standard method.

c) Is there a statistically significant difference between the population mean test scores for the new method and the standard method based on the confidence interval calculated in part b) ? Why or why not?

Answer 1