Hypothesis testing
Exercise 2
Module : Estimation Techniques for Engineers
Exercise N°2
Statement
One industrial process involves plating (gold) printed circuit boards. Due
to a large variability in the plating thickness, certain technical
modifications were made to the manufacturing process to reduce the
extent. Following these modifications, we would like to ensure that the
variability of the process does not exceed 4. A random sample of 20
panels was taken from the production and the veneer thickness was
measured to micro inches. The variance of this sample is 4.47.
For a risk of 0.05, is the assumption that the variance does not
exceed 4 acceptable? (Detail the different stages of the test to be
constructed).
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Exercise N°2
Solution
We must construct a Left One-tailed test for the variance.
Step 1: State your research hypothesis H0 and H1
(
H0 : σ 2 = 4
H1 : σ 2 < 4
Step 2: Determination of the decision variable and the reduced
deviation.
We have n = 20 and µ is unknown, and the estimate of σ 2 is s 2 = 4.47
(n − 1)S 2
Y = ∼ χ2(n−1) , Chi-squared of n − 1 dof
σ2
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Exercise N°2
Step 3: Determination of critical regions.
We determine χ21−α,n−1 from the table of the Chi-squared distribution,
α = 0.05 −→ 1 − α = 0.95 −→ χ21−α,19 = 10.117
We calculate the value y0 taken by Y
(n − 1)s 2 19 × 4.47
y0 = 2
= ≃ 21.23
σ 4
Step 4: Decision
χ21−α,19 = 10.117 < y0 = 21.23
We are in the acceptance area of H0 , so the assumption that the variance
does not exceed 4 is acceptable.
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