Question

To test compliance with authority, a classical experiment in social psychology
requires subjects to administer increasingly painful electric shocks to seemingly
helpless victims who agonize in an adjacent room.* Each subject earns a score
between 0 and 30, depending on the point at which the subject refuses to comply
with authority—an investigator, dressed in a white lab coat, who orders the
administration of increasingly intense shocks. A score of 0 signifies the subject’s
unwillingness to comply at the very outset, and a score of 30 signifies the subject’s
willingness to comply completely with the experimenter’s orders.

Ignore the very real ethical issues raised by this type of experiment, and assume
that you want to study the effect of a “committee atmosphere” on compliance with
authority. In one condition, shocks are administered only after an affirmative decision
by the committee, consisting of one real subject and two associates of the investigator,
who act as subjects but, in fact, merely go along with the decision of the real
subject. In the other condition, shocks are administered only after an affirmative
decision by a solitary real subject.

A total of 12 subjects are randomly assigned, in equal numbers, to the committee
condition (X1) and to the solitary condition (X2). A compliance score is obtained for
each subject. Use t to test the null hypothesis at the .05 level of significance.

COMPLIANCE SCORES
COMMITTEE SOLITARY
2 3
5 8
20 7
15 10
4 14
10 0

Answer 1

Assumed population mean(u)=10, because not given in the data,
Given that,
sample mean, x =8.1667
standard deviation, s =5.9365
number (n)=12
null, Ho: μ=10
alternate, H1: μ!=10
level of significance, α = 0.05
from standard normal table, two tailed t α/2 =2.201
since our test is two-tailed
reject Ho, if to < -2.201 OR if to > 2.201
we use test statistic (t) = x-u/(s.d/sqrt(n))
to =8.1667-10/(5.9365/sqrt(12))
to =-1.0698
| to | =1.0698
critical value
the value of |t α| with n-1 = 11 d.f is 2.201
we got |to| =1.0698 & | t α | =2.201
make decision
hence value of |to | < | t α | and here we do not reject Ho
p-value :two tailed ( double the one tail ) - Ha : ( p != -1.0698 ) = 0.3076
hence value of p0.05 < 0.3076,here we do not reject Ho
ANSWERS
---------------
null, Ho: μ=10
alternate, H1: μ!=10
test statistic: -1.0698
critical value: -2.201 , 2.201
decision: do not reject Ho
p-value: 0.3076
we do not have enough evidence to support the claim that compliance with authority, a classical experiment in social psychology
requires subjects to administer increasingly painful electric shocks to seemingly
helpless victims who agonize in an adjacent room.