# Drawing conclusion from fixed significance level or p-value in a two-sample test

This was an example done in class, However I was sick

An experiment was performed to determine whether the average nicotine content of brand A cigarette exceeds that of brand B cigarette by 0.20 milligram. If 50 cigarettes of brand A had a sample mean of 2.61 milligrams whereas 40 brand B cigarettes had an average nicotine of 2.38 milligrams. The population standard deviations of the nicotine content for the two brands of cigarettes are known to be 0.12 and 0.14 for brand A and B, respectively.

(a) Based on a significance level of 5%, what can you conclude about the difference between the two brands of cigarettes?

(b) Base on a p−value, what can you conclude about the difference between the two brands of cigarettes?

My Attempt:

(a)

$H_{0} :\mu_{A}-\mu_{B} =0.2$

$H_{1} :\mu_{A}-\mu_{B} \ne 0.2$

Significance Level : $\alpha = 0.05$

Rejection Region : $|z| >1.96$

Test Statistic : $z = \frac{2.61-2.38 -0.2}{\sqrt{\frac{0.12^2}{50}+\frac{0.14^2}{40}}} =1.08$

Conclusion : Since $1.08 <1.96$ I fail to reject $H_{0}$ at 5%

I really need Help with B

• What did you try?
– ThiS
Jan 8 '13 at 13:09
• I added the homework tag; this reads very much like a HW problem. Jan 8 '13 at 13:24
• Welcome to the site, @Jason. Please don't remove the HW tag, even if this was an in-class question, & not technically homework. The tag doesn't exist just to label questions that come from someone's actual HW, but to identify any "routine question from a textbook, course, or test used for a class or self-study". Your Q does come from a course, & it seems you are using this for self-study, in a sense, now. You can read more about this here: should-we-tag-questions-that-smell-like-homework & on the FAQ. Jan 8 '13 at 14:06
• Is your issue with part (b) one of not knowing how to compute the p-value, or not knowing how p-values relate to the conclusion of a statistical test at a given significance level, or both? Jan 8 '13 at 15:38
• Your statement of the hypothesis is incorrect according to "n experiment was performed to determine whether the average nicotine content of brand A cigarette exceeds that of brand B cigarette by 0.20 mg" May 13 '14 at 18:19

• this is false! it's the probability of data equal to or more extreme than the observed values, under the null. $P(D|H)$ is the likelihood, not the p-value. Jan 4 '14 at 15:14