A Randomization Distribution for Mercury Levels in Fish Use StatKey or other technology to create the randomization distribution for the situation in Exercise B.48. Use the distribution to calculate a p-value. Using α = 0.05, state the conclusion in context.

Exercise B.48

The dataset FloridaLakes is introduced in Data 2.4 on page 68, and we return to the dataset in Exercise B.45 on page 315. To see if there is evidence of a negative correlation between pH in lakes and mercury levels in fish, the hypotheses are H₀: ρ = 0 vs H_a: ρ < 0. For the observed sample, with n = 53, we have r = −0.575.

Data 2.4 on page 68

The FloridaLakes dataset describes characteristics of water samples taken at n = 53 Florida lakes. Alkalinity (concentration of calcium carbonate in mg/L) and acidity (pH) are given for each lake. In addition, the average mercury level is recorded for a sample of fish (large mouth bass) from each lake. A standardized mercury level is obtained by adjusting the mercury averages to account for the age of the fish in each sample. Notice that the cases are the 53 lakes and that all four variables are quantitative.