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Boles and Johnson (A-7) examined the beliefs held by adolescents regarding smoki

ID: 3208283 • Letter: B

Question

Boles and Johnson (A-7) examined the beliefs held by adolescents regarding smoking and weight. Respondents characterized their weight into three categories: underweight, overweight, or appropriate. Smoking status was categorized according to the answer to the question. "Do you currently smoke, meaning one or more cigarettes per day?" The following table shows the results of a telephone study of adolescents in the age group 12-17. Source: Sharon M. Boles and Patrick B. Johnson, "Gender, Weight Concerns, and Adolescent Smoking, " Journal of Addictive Diseases. 20 (2001), 5-14. Do the data provide sufficient evidence to suggest that weight perception and smoking status are related in adolescents? alpha = .05.

Explanation / Answer

Solution:

Here, we have to check whether there is sufficient evidence to suggest that the weight perception and smoking status are related in adolescents or not. For checking this hypothesis or claim we have to use the Chi square test for the independence of two categorical variables. The null and alternative hypothesis for this test is given as below:

Null hypothesis: H0: The variables weight perception and smoking status are independent.

Alternative hypothesis: Ha: The variables weight perception and smoking status are not independent.

We are given a level of significance or alpha value as 5% or 0.05.

The test statistic formula is given as below:

Chi square = [(O – E)2/E]

The calculations and other values for this test are given as below:

Observed Frequencies

Smoking

Weight Perception

Yes

No

Total

Underweight

17

97

114

Overweight

25

142

167

Appropriate

96

816

912

Total

138

1055

1193

Expected Frequencies

Smoking

Weight Perception

Yes

No

Total

Underweight

13.19

100.81

114

Overweight

19.32

147.68

167

Appropriate

105.50

806.50

912

Total

138

1055

1193

Data

Level of Significance

0.05

Number of Rows

3

Number of Columns

2

Degrees of Freedom

2

Results

Critical Value

5.991464547

Chi-Square Test Statistic

4.103341124

p-Value

0.128520023

Do not reject the null hypothesis

We conclude that the variables weight perception and smoking status are independent.

The data do not provide sufficient evidence to suggest that weight perception and smoking status are related in adolescents.

Observed Frequencies

Smoking

Weight Perception

Yes

No

Total

Underweight

17

97

114

Overweight

25

142

167

Appropriate

96

816

912

Total

138

1055

1193

Expected Frequencies

Smoking

Weight Perception

Yes

No

Total

Underweight

13.19

100.81

114

Overweight

19.32

147.68

167

Appropriate

105.50

806.50

912

Total

138

1055

1193

Data

Level of Significance

0.05

Number of Rows

3

Number of Columns

2

Degrees of Freedom

2

Results

Critical Value

5.991464547

Chi-Square Test Statistic

4.103341124

p-Value

0.128520023

Do not reject the null hypothesis