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A pharmaceutical company claims their new diabetes medication results in less variance in a patient's glucose level than if the patient were on no medication at all. An endocrinologist wishes to test this claim. He divides participants randomly into two groups. Group A consists of 26 diabetics who received the medication; Group B consists of 31 diabetics who received a placebo. After two weeks, the blood sugar level of each patient in each group was measured with the following results (in [tex]$mg/dL$[/tex]):

**Group A:**
112.3, 99.8, 140.6, 134.8, 139, 237.1, 172.9, 121.2, 168.1, 174.2, 138.5, 98.2, 179.8, 113.1,
190.5, 199.8, 146.2, 157.8, 191.9, 123.4, 92.3, 192.8, 70.4, 194.3, 139.9, 81.3

**Group B:**
140.8, 122.2, 129.1, 232.3, 136.5, 136.4, 90.9, 144.8, 233.3, 123.5, 135.6, 94.2, 114.7, 143.6,
163.8, 100.8, 134.9, 189.1, 133, 193.5, 97, 173.3, 156.4, 111.5, 127.6, 77.3, 141.1, 51.5, 174.5,
88.4, 136.7

Perform a hypothesis test using a 5% level of significance to test the pharmaceutical company's claim.

**Step 1:** State the null and alternative hypotheses.
\[ H_0: \frac{\sigma_A^2}{\sigma_B^2} = 1 \]
\[ H_a: \frac{\sigma_A^2}{\sigma_B^2} < 1 \]
(So we will be performing a left-tailed test.)

**Step 2:** Assuming the null hypothesis is true, identify the sampling distribution.
The sampling distribution is an F-distribution with numerator degrees of freedom.

Answer :

To address the question of whether the new diabetes medication results in less variance in a patient's glucose level compared to no medication, we will undertake a hypothesis test. Here is the detailed step-by-step solution:

### Step 1: State the null and alternative hypotheses.

Null Hypothesis (H0): The variance of glucose levels for the medication group (Group A) is not less than that for the placebo group (Group B). Symbolically, this can be expressed as:
[tex]\[ H_0: \frac{\sigma_A^2}{\sigma_B^2} \geq 1 \][/tex]

Alternative Hypothesis (Ha): The variance of glucose levels for the medication group (Group A) is less than for the placebo group (Group B). This can be written as:
[tex]\[ H_a: \frac{\sigma_A^2}{\sigma_B^2} < 1 \][/tex]

This indicates we are performing a left-tailed test.

### Step 2: Identify the sampling distribution.

When comparing variances, the F-distribution is used. The test statistic, called the F-statistic, is calculated as the ratio of the sample variances:
[tex]\[ F = \frac{S_A^2}{S_B^2} \][/tex]
where [tex]\(S_A^2\)[/tex] and [tex]\(S_B^2\)[/tex] are the sample variances of Group A and Group B, respectively.

Let's list the degrees of freedom:
- Degrees of freedom for Group A: [tex]\( n_A - 1 = 26 - 1 = 25 \)[/tex]
- Degrees of freedom for Group B: [tex]\( n_B - 1 = 31 - 1 = 30 \)[/tex]

### Step 3: Calculate the sample variances.

From the data, we have:
- The variance for Group A ([tex]\(S_A^2\)[/tex]) is approximately 1757.22.
- The variance for Group B ([tex]\(S_B^2\)[/tex]) is approximately 1667.73.

### Step 4: Calculate the F-statistic.

Using the variances:
[tex]\[ F = \frac{1757.22}{1667.73} \approx 1.0537 \][/tex]

### Step 5: Find the p-value for the test.

The p-value indicates the probability of observing a test statistic as extreme as, or more extreme than, the one computed, assuming the null hypothesis is true. For a left-tailed test, the p-value can be calculated from the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the F-distribution.

The calculated p-value is approximately 0.5584.

### Step 6: Make a decision based on the p-value.

At a 5% significance level ([tex]\(\alpha = 0.05\)[/tex]):
- If the p-value is less than [tex]\(\alpha\)[/tex], we reject the null hypothesis.
- If the p-value is greater than [tex]\(\alpha\)[/tex], we fail to reject the null hypothesis.

Since 0.5584 is greater than 0.05, we fail to reject the null hypothesis.

### Conclusion:

There is not enough evidence to support the claim that the new diabetes medication results in a smaller variance in glucose levels compared to not taking the medication. Therefore, the pharmaceutical company's claim cannot be substantiated based on this data.

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