Medicine and Clinical Studies
A normal adult brain oxidizes approximately 120 grams of glucose per day.13 Some researchers believe that the rate of metabolism is higher in adults whose job requires them to make many decisions daily. A random sample of basketball referees was obtained, and the brain oxidation rate of each was measured. The data are given in the following table.
The underlying distribution of oxidation rates is assumed to be continuous and symmetric.
a. Use the Wilcoxon signed-rank test to determine whether there is any evidence that the mean oxidation rate for basketball referees is greater than 120 grams per day. Use a significance level of a = 0.05. Find the p value for this test.
b. Why can the signed-rank test be used in this case to test a hypothesis concerning the population mean (rather than the population median)?