Question

Do oddsmakers believe that teams who play at home will have home field advantage? Specifically, do oddsmakers give higher point spreads when the favored team plays home games as compared to when the favored team plays away games? Two samples were randomly selected from three complete National Football League seasons (1989, 1990, and 1991). The first sample consisted of 50 games, where the favored team played in a home game, while the second sample consisted of 50 games, where the favored team played in an away game. The oddsmakers’ point spreads (which are the number of points by which the favored team is predicted to beat the weaker team) were then collected. If µ1 and µ2 represent the mean point spread for home games and away games, respectively, which of the following is the appropriate pair of hypotheses in this case? H0: μ1 - μ2 = 0 Ha: μ1 - μ2 < 0 H0: μ1 - μ2 = 0 Ha: μ1 < μ2 H0: μ1 - μ2 > 0 Ha: μ1 - μ2 = 0 H0: μ1 - μ2 = 0 Ha: μ1 - μ2 > 0

Answer 1

Mean point spread for home games =

Mean point spread for away games =

We want to test the oddsmakers' belief that teams who play at home will have home field advantage i.e. oddsmakers give higher point spreads when favored team plays home games as compared to when the favored team plays away games.

Hence, the correct set of hypotheses are: