Exam style practice

paper

Time allowed 1 hour 15 minutes

Answer all questions

1 An ice cream manufacturer wishes to compare three different

recipes P, Q and R. Subjects are to be asked to taste the ice
cream and give it a mark out of 50. Two experimental designs
are suggested.
Design 1 Design 2
P Q R P Q R
S1 S5 S9 S1 S2 S4
S2 S6 S10 S2 S3 S1
S3 S7 S11 S3 S1 S3
S4 S8 S12 S4 S4 S2

In Design 1 twelve subjects are randomly allocated, four to

each recipe. In Design 2 only four subjects are used (the
order they appear in each column is unimportant).
(a) Write down the name given to:
(i) Design 1,
(ii) Design 2. (2 marks)
(b) Explain why Design 2 is to be preferred to Design 1.
(2 marks)

2 An instrument panel is being designed to control a complex

industrial operation. It will be necessary for the operator to
use both hands independently to operate the panel. To assist
the designers, it was decided to time a number of operators,
each carrying out the same task, using a simulated instrument
panel, once with the left hand and once with the right hand.
The times, in seconds, were as follows:
Operator A B C D E F G H
Left hand, x 49 82 103 34 37 35 44 74
Right hand, y 34 47 59 29 27 26 65 47

One of the design aims is that the mean additional time

required to operate the panel with the left hand instead of
the right hand should not exceed 10 s.
 Exam style practice paper 137

(a) Use a paired t-test and the 5% significance level to

investigate the claim that this aim has not been met.
(9 marks)
(b) Further investigation established that operator G was
left-handed, all the other operators being right-handed.
How would the analysis have differed if the aim had
referred to the dominant and non-dominant hands
rather than the left and right hands. (2 marks)

3 (a) An acceptance sampling plan is required to give a risk of

not more than 8% of a batch of items containing 2%
non-conforming being rejected. A decision is to be made
by examining a sample of 50 items. Find the appropriate
decision procedure. (3 marks)
(b) Find the probability of accepting batches containing 3%,
5%, 10% and 15% non-conforming items for the plan
you found in (a). Hence draw the operating
characteristic. Indicate on your graph the ideal shape of
the operating characteristic if batches containing up to
5% non-conforming are acceptable. (5 marks)
(c) Would the plan you found in (a) satisfy a customer who
specified a risk of not more than 5% of a batch
containing 11% non-conforming being accepted? Justify
your answer. (2 marks)

4 A manufacturer of drinking glasses inspects samples of 60 at

regular intervals and counts the number with visual
blemishes. During a period when production was satisfactory
the results for ten samples were as follows:
Sample 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Number with blemishes 6 7 6 9 10 9 13 12 14 15

(a) Calculate, approximate, upper and lower, warning and

action limits for a control chart for the proportion with
blemishes. You are not required to draw the chart.
(5 marks)
(b) Evaluate the proportion with blemishes in each of the
samples and comment. (3 marks)
(c) If charts using the limits you have calculated in (a) were
used, state, giving a reason, what action would be
indicated if the number with blemishes in the next
sample was:
(i) 18, (ii) 25, (iii) 1. (6 marks)
(d) Give two advantages and one disadvantage of using
control charts for proportion non-conforming compared to
setting up control charts for mean and range. Your answer
need not be restricted to the context above. (3 marks)
138 Exam style practice paper

5 A commuter in a large city can travel to work by car, bicycle

or bus. She believes that the time she leaves home and also
the day of the week may affect her average journey time. She
records the following times, in minutes, from going out of her
front door until reaching her desk at work.
Method of transport
Time of leaving Car Bicycle Bus
8.00 a.m. 45(M) 28(W) 51(F)
8.30 a.m. 27(W) 31(F) 46(M)
9.00 a.m. 33(F) 29(M) 40(W)

(M), (W) or (F) indicate the journey was undertaken on

Monday, Wednesday or Friday, respectively.
(a) Carry out an analysis of variance and investigate, at the
5% significance level, whether there are differences in
the mean journey times for method of transport, time of
leaving and day of the week. (12 marks)
(b) Interpret the results of your analysis as they apply to
method of transport. (2 marks)
(c) In order to analyse the data it was necessary to assume
there were no interactions. Explain the meaning of
interactions in the context of this question. (2 marks)
(d) Explain why it was useful to include day of the week in
the experimental design even though the commuter
must travel on all weekdays and so cannot affect her
average journey time by selecting particular days for her
journeys. (2 marks)