A certain manufacturer is interested in evaluating two alternative manufacturing plans consisting of different machine layouts. Because of union rules, hours of operation vary greatly for this particular manufacturer from one day to the next. Twenty-eight random working days were selected and each plan was monitored and the number of items produced each day was recorded. some of the collected data is shown below:

$$\begin{array} { c | c | c }
\text { DAY } & \text { PLAN 1 OUTPUT } & \text { PLAN 2 OUTPUT } \
\hline 1 & 1234 \text { units } & 1311 \text { units } \
2 & 1355 \text { units } & 1366 \text { units } \
3 & 1300 \text { units } & 1289 \text { units }
\end{array}$$ What type of analysis will best allow the manufacturer to determine which plan is more effective?
A) An independent samples comparison of population means.
B) An independent samples comparison of population proportions.
C) A paired difference comparison of population means.
D) A test of a single population proportion.

Question

A certain manufacturer is interested in evaluating two alternative manufacturing plans consisting of different machine layouts. Because of union rules, hours of operation vary greatly for this particular manufacturer from one day to the next. Twenty-eight random working days were selected and each plan was monitored and the number of items produced each day was recorded. some of the collected data is shown below:

$$\begin{array} { c | c | c } 
\text { DAY } & \text { PLAN 1 OUTPUT } & \text { PLAN 2 OUTPUT } \
\hline 1 & 1234 \text { units } & 1311 \text { units } \
2 & 1355 \text { units } & 1366 \text { units } \
3 & 1300 \text { units } & 1289 \text { units }
\end{array}$$ What type of analysis will best allow the manufacturer to determine which plan is more effective?
A) An independent samples comparison of population means.
B) An independent samples comparison of population proportions.
C) A paired difference comparison of population means.
D) A test of a single population proportion.

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The data consists of paired observations (outputs from the same day for both plans), so a paired difference comparison of population means is appropriate.

A Certain Manufacturer Is Interested in Evaluating Two Alternative Manufacturing