Q. When female undergraduates switch from science,mathematics, and engineering (
ID: 2918388 • Letter: Q
Question
Q. When female undergraduates switch from science,mathematics, and engineering (SME) majors into disciplinesthat are not science-based, are their resaons different from thoseof their male counterparts? This question was investigated inScience Eduction. A sample of 335 senior undergraduates: 172females and 163 males, at two large research universities wereidentified as "switchers," that is, they left a declared SME majorfor a non-SME major. Each student listed one or more factors thatcontributed to the switching decision. Of the 172 females in thesample, 74 listed lack or loss major factor, compared to 72 of the163 males.Conduct a test to determine whether the proportion of femaleswitchers who give "lack of interest" in SME as a major reason forswitiching differs from the corresponding proportion ofmales. Use =.1 and clearly provide an explanation of yourresult. Q. When female undergraduates switch from science,mathematics, and engineering (SME) majors into disciplinesthat are not science-based, are their resaons different from thoseof their male counterparts? This question was investigated inScience Eduction. A sample of 335 senior undergraduates: 172females and 163 males, at two large research universities wereidentified as "switchers," that is, they left a declared SME majorfor a non-SME major. Each student listed one or more factors thatcontributed to the switching decision. Of the 172 females in thesample, 74 listed lack or loss major factor, compared to 72 of the163 males.
Conduct a test to determine whether the proportion of femaleswitchers who give "lack of interest" in SME as a major reason forswitiching differs from the corresponding proportion ofmales. Use =.1 and clearly provide an explanation of yourresult.
Explanation / Answer
Given n1=172, p1=74/172=0.43 (females) n2=163,p2=72/163=0.44 (males) =0.1, Z(0.05)=1.645 (check normal table) The test hypothesis is Ho:p1=p2 Ha:p1 not equal p2 The test statistic is Z=(p1-p2)/[p1*(1-p1)/n1]+[p2*(1-p2)/n2] =(0.43-0.44)/sqrt((0.43*(1-0.43)/172) +(0.44*(1-0.44)/163)) =-0.18 Since Z=-0.18 < -1.645, we reject Ho. Thus, the proportion offemale switchers who give "lack of interest" in SME as a majorreason for switiching differs from the correspondingproportion of males.Related Questions
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