TABLE 10-14
a Problem with a Telephone Line That Prevents

question 100

Essay

TABLE 10-14
A problem with a telephone line that prevents a customer from receiving or making calls is disconcerting to both the customer and the telephone company. The data on samples of 20 problems reported to two different offices of a telephone company and the time to clear these problems (in minutes) from the customers' lines are collected. Below is the Excel output to see whether there is evidence of a difference in the mean waiting time between the two offices assuming that the population variances in the two offices are not equal.
$$\begin{array}{l}\text { t- Test: Two- Sample Assuming Unequal Variances }\\\begin{array} { l r r } \hline & \text { Office 1 } & \text { Office 2 } \\\hline \text { Mean } & 2214 & 2.0115 \\\text { Variance } & 2.951657 & 3.57855 \\\text { Observations } & 20 & 20 \\\text { Hypothesized Mean Difference } & 0 & \\\mathrm { df } & 38 & \\\mathrm { t } \text { Stat } & 0.354386 & \\\mathrm { P } ( \mathrm { T } < = \mathrm { t } ) \text { one- tail } & 0.362504 & \\\mathrm { t } \text { Critical one- tail } & 1.685953 & \\\mathrm { P } ( \mathrm { T } < = \mathrm { t } ) \text { two- tail } & 0.725009 & \\\mathrm { t } \text { Critical two- tail } & 2.024394 &\end{array}\end{array}$$
-Referring to Table 10-14, what is the 95% confidence interval estimate for the difference in the two means if the two population variances are assumed to be the same?

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Definitions:

General Cost

A type of expense that is not directly tied to production or operations but is necessary for overall business function, like utilities or rent.

Prime Costs

The combined costs of direct materials and direct labor that are directly attributable to the manufacturing process.

Direct Materials

Materials that are directly consumed in the production of a product and are easily traceable to it.

Cost of Goods Sold

The immediate expenses related to the creation of products sold by a business, which include costs for materials and labor.