Activity 16.4:

Analyze Some Causal-Comparative Data

Just prior to the commencement of the fall semester at a large Midwestern university, Professor Judith Brown, an ardent feminist who has a Ph.D in statistics, gets into a discussion with one of her male colleagues about who are better statistics students, males or females. She hypothesizes that the females in her classes, on average, will outperform the males.

Listed in Table 16.1 are the scores on the final examination earned by each of the 24 students (12 females and 12 males) in her introductory class. Calculate the mean (the average) score for both the male and the female students in Dr. Brown's class. Is there a difference? If there is a difference, can Dr. Brown argue that gender is the cause of this apparent difference in ability (indeed, that her hypothesis is correct)? Explain your conclusion in the space provided under the table.

Females	Males
70	90
75	68
93	91
84	80
65	77
87	80
90	91
95	76
88	75
78	62
86	77
84	87
Total	Total
Female Mean	Male Mean