How do I compare means when I have a sample and the whole population?

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Scenario



I have the avg room price for all the hotels of my chain (32 observations of the 32 hotels). Then I have the avg room price for a sample of competitors (60 observations taken from a larger population).



Problem



I would like to understand whether the avg room price of the hotels of my chain is equal to that of the competitors



Proposed solution



First, I computed the average room price across all the hotels of my chain $p_a$. Since the entire population is known, I would say that there is no uncertainty here, this is the exact average.



Then I computed the average room price of the sample of competitors and the related std deviation ($barp_c$ and $tildesigma_c$).



I performed a hypothesis testing with the null $H_0: p_c = p_a$ against the alternative $H_1: p_c neq p_a$. The test statistic is then ($n=60$):
$$
t = fracbarp_c-p_afractildesigma_csqrtn
$$

If the associated p-value is sufficently low, I reject the null hypothesis.



Basically here I'm considering that the average room price of the hotels of my chain is known and well-established, hence I'm doing the hypothesis testing for a single population mean (the competitors' population). Do you think this is the right approach or shall I test a hypothesis about two population mean (this is the alternative that comes to my mind)



Thanks for any help, T.










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  • 1




    The hypothesis testing for a single population mean is good. Need to pay attention to the calculation of std deviation if the total number of hotels from competitors is limited, for example less than 500.
    – a_statistician
    2 hours ago










  • Thanks a lot, @a_statistician. What should I exactly pay attention to if the population is limited? How does this affect the computation of the std deviation? Thx, T.
    – tuspazio
    2 hours ago










  • It is called The finite population correction. See eq. 3.19 on page 3-15 of ph.ucla.edu/epi/rapidsurveys/RScourse/RSbook_ch3.pdf
    – a_statistician
    2 hours ago










  • Ah understood, thanks for the suggestion!
    – tuspazio
    1 hour ago
















up vote
2
down vote

favorite












Scenario



I have the avg room price for all the hotels of my chain (32 observations of the 32 hotels). Then I have the avg room price for a sample of competitors (60 observations taken from a larger population).



Problem



I would like to understand whether the avg room price of the hotels of my chain is equal to that of the competitors



Proposed solution



First, I computed the average room price across all the hotels of my chain $p_a$. Since the entire population is known, I would say that there is no uncertainty here, this is the exact average.



Then I computed the average room price of the sample of competitors and the related std deviation ($barp_c$ and $tildesigma_c$).



I performed a hypothesis testing with the null $H_0: p_c = p_a$ against the alternative $H_1: p_c neq p_a$. The test statistic is then ($n=60$):
$$
t = fracbarp_c-p_afractildesigma_csqrtn
$$

If the associated p-value is sufficently low, I reject the null hypothesis.



Basically here I'm considering that the average room price of the hotels of my chain is known and well-established, hence I'm doing the hypothesis testing for a single population mean (the competitors' population). Do you think this is the right approach or shall I test a hypothesis about two population mean (this is the alternative that comes to my mind)



Thanks for any help, T.










share|cite|improve this question







New contributor




tuspazio is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.















  • 1




    The hypothesis testing for a single population mean is good. Need to pay attention to the calculation of std deviation if the total number of hotels from competitors is limited, for example less than 500.
    – a_statistician
    2 hours ago










  • Thanks a lot, @a_statistician. What should I exactly pay attention to if the population is limited? How does this affect the computation of the std deviation? Thx, T.
    – tuspazio
    2 hours ago










  • It is called The finite population correction. See eq. 3.19 on page 3-15 of ph.ucla.edu/epi/rapidsurveys/RScourse/RSbook_ch3.pdf
    – a_statistician
    2 hours ago










  • Ah understood, thanks for the suggestion!
    – tuspazio
    1 hour ago












up vote
2
down vote

favorite









up vote
2
down vote

favorite











Scenario



I have the avg room price for all the hotels of my chain (32 observations of the 32 hotels). Then I have the avg room price for a sample of competitors (60 observations taken from a larger population).



Problem



I would like to understand whether the avg room price of the hotels of my chain is equal to that of the competitors



Proposed solution



First, I computed the average room price across all the hotels of my chain $p_a$. Since the entire population is known, I would say that there is no uncertainty here, this is the exact average.



Then I computed the average room price of the sample of competitors and the related std deviation ($barp_c$ and $tildesigma_c$).



I performed a hypothesis testing with the null $H_0: p_c = p_a$ against the alternative $H_1: p_c neq p_a$. The test statistic is then ($n=60$):
$$
t = fracbarp_c-p_afractildesigma_csqrtn
$$

If the associated p-value is sufficently low, I reject the null hypothesis.



Basically here I'm considering that the average room price of the hotels of my chain is known and well-established, hence I'm doing the hypothesis testing for a single population mean (the competitors' population). Do you think this is the right approach or shall I test a hypothesis about two population mean (this is the alternative that comes to my mind)



Thanks for any help, T.










share|cite|improve this question







New contributor




tuspazio is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.











Scenario



I have the avg room price for all the hotels of my chain (32 observations of the 32 hotels). Then I have the avg room price for a sample of competitors (60 observations taken from a larger population).



Problem



I would like to understand whether the avg room price of the hotels of my chain is equal to that of the competitors



Proposed solution



First, I computed the average room price across all the hotels of my chain $p_a$. Since the entire population is known, I would say that there is no uncertainty here, this is the exact average.



Then I computed the average room price of the sample of competitors and the related std deviation ($barp_c$ and $tildesigma_c$).



I performed a hypothesis testing with the null $H_0: p_c = p_a$ against the alternative $H_1: p_c neq p_a$. The test statistic is then ($n=60$):
$$
t = fracbarp_c-p_afractildesigma_csqrtn
$$

If the associated p-value is sufficently low, I reject the null hypothesis.



Basically here I'm considering that the average room price of the hotels of my chain is known and well-established, hence I'm doing the hypothesis testing for a single population mean (the competitors' population). Do you think this is the right approach or shall I test a hypothesis about two population mean (this is the alternative that comes to my mind)



Thanks for any help, T.







hypothesis-testing mean sample population






share|cite|improve this question







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share|cite|improve this question







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Check out our Code of Conduct.









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asked 5 hours ago









tuspazio

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New contributor





tuspazio is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.






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Check out our Code of Conduct.







  • 1




    The hypothesis testing for a single population mean is good. Need to pay attention to the calculation of std deviation if the total number of hotels from competitors is limited, for example less than 500.
    – a_statistician
    2 hours ago










  • Thanks a lot, @a_statistician. What should I exactly pay attention to if the population is limited? How does this affect the computation of the std deviation? Thx, T.
    – tuspazio
    2 hours ago










  • It is called The finite population correction. See eq. 3.19 on page 3-15 of ph.ucla.edu/epi/rapidsurveys/RScourse/RSbook_ch3.pdf
    – a_statistician
    2 hours ago










  • Ah understood, thanks for the suggestion!
    – tuspazio
    1 hour ago












  • 1




    The hypothesis testing for a single population mean is good. Need to pay attention to the calculation of std deviation if the total number of hotels from competitors is limited, for example less than 500.
    – a_statistician
    2 hours ago










  • Thanks a lot, @a_statistician. What should I exactly pay attention to if the population is limited? How does this affect the computation of the std deviation? Thx, T.
    – tuspazio
    2 hours ago










  • It is called The finite population correction. See eq. 3.19 on page 3-15 of ph.ucla.edu/epi/rapidsurveys/RScourse/RSbook_ch3.pdf
    – a_statistician
    2 hours ago










  • Ah understood, thanks for the suggestion!
    – tuspazio
    1 hour ago







1




1




The hypothesis testing for a single population mean is good. Need to pay attention to the calculation of std deviation if the total number of hotels from competitors is limited, for example less than 500.
– a_statistician
2 hours ago




The hypothesis testing for a single population mean is good. Need to pay attention to the calculation of std deviation if the total number of hotels from competitors is limited, for example less than 500.
– a_statistician
2 hours ago












Thanks a lot, @a_statistician. What should I exactly pay attention to if the population is limited? How does this affect the computation of the std deviation? Thx, T.
– tuspazio
2 hours ago




Thanks a lot, @a_statistician. What should I exactly pay attention to if the population is limited? How does this affect the computation of the std deviation? Thx, T.
– tuspazio
2 hours ago












It is called The finite population correction. See eq. 3.19 on page 3-15 of ph.ucla.edu/epi/rapidsurveys/RScourse/RSbook_ch3.pdf
– a_statistician
2 hours ago




It is called The finite population correction. See eq. 3.19 on page 3-15 of ph.ucla.edu/epi/rapidsurveys/RScourse/RSbook_ch3.pdf
– a_statistician
2 hours ago












Ah understood, thanks for the suggestion!
– tuspazio
1 hour ago




Ah understood, thanks for the suggestion!
– tuspazio
1 hour ago










2 Answers
2






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up vote
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accepted










This seems completely reasonable to me. It is what I would have done.






share|cite|improve this answer



























    up vote
    0
    down vote













    It depends on what you're really trying to do.



    One thing that immediately comes to mind is that hotel prices depend heavily on location. So the price of a hotel room in NYC is apt to be much higher than the price of a hotel in Bismark, ND.



    So a better statistic might be to do a paired T test, where the price for each of your hotels is compared to a comparable hotel in the same market place.






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      2 Answers
      2






      active

      oldest

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      2 Answers
      2






      active

      oldest

      votes









      active

      oldest

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      active

      oldest

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      up vote
      3
      down vote



      accepted










      This seems completely reasonable to me. It is what I would have done.






      share|cite|improve this answer
























        up vote
        3
        down vote



        accepted










        This seems completely reasonable to me. It is what I would have done.






        share|cite|improve this answer






















          up vote
          3
          down vote



          accepted







          up vote
          3
          down vote



          accepted






          This seems completely reasonable to me. It is what I would have done.






          share|cite|improve this answer












          This seems completely reasonable to me. It is what I would have done.







          share|cite|improve this answer












          share|cite|improve this answer



          share|cite|improve this answer










          answered 4 hours ago









          Peter Flom♦

          72.8k11103197




          72.8k11103197






















              up vote
              0
              down vote













              It depends on what you're really trying to do.



              One thing that immediately comes to mind is that hotel prices depend heavily on location. So the price of a hotel room in NYC is apt to be much higher than the price of a hotel in Bismark, ND.



              So a better statistic might be to do a paired T test, where the price for each of your hotels is compared to a comparable hotel in the same market place.






              share|cite
























                up vote
                0
                down vote













                It depends on what you're really trying to do.



                One thing that immediately comes to mind is that hotel prices depend heavily on location. So the price of a hotel room in NYC is apt to be much higher than the price of a hotel in Bismark, ND.



                So a better statistic might be to do a paired T test, where the price for each of your hotels is compared to a comparable hotel in the same market place.






                share|cite






















                  up vote
                  0
                  down vote










                  up vote
                  0
                  down vote









                  It depends on what you're really trying to do.



                  One thing that immediately comes to mind is that hotel prices depend heavily on location. So the price of a hotel room in NYC is apt to be much higher than the price of a hotel in Bismark, ND.



                  So a better statistic might be to do a paired T test, where the price for each of your hotels is compared to a comparable hotel in the same market place.






                  share|cite












                  It depends on what you're really trying to do.



                  One thing that immediately comes to mind is that hotel prices depend heavily on location. So the price of a hotel room in NYC is apt to be much higher than the price of a hotel in Bismark, ND.



                  So a better statistic might be to do a paired T test, where the price for each of your hotels is compared to a comparable hotel in the same market place.







                  share|cite












                  share|cite



                  share|cite










                  answered 31 secs ago









                  MaxW

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