Identify the Inference Methods Practice Test

This question tests comparing two independent groups on a binary outcome to see if there’s an association between gender and attending college outside the state. Since there are two distinct groups (males and females) and the outcome is yes/no (attend outside Texas), we want to compare the proportions in each group.

The 2-proportion z-interval is the appropriate method because it estimates the difference between the two group proportions. It provides a confidence interval for how the proportion of students attending outside Texas differs between genders. If zero difference falls outside the interval, gender appears to be associated with the likelihood of attending out of state. If zero is contained in the interval, there’s no evidence of an association. Conditions for the normal approximation should be met in both groups (sufficiently large samples).

The other options don’t fit this situation: a paired t-test is for matched pairs with a continuous outcome; a 1-sample t-test compares a single group’s mean to a value; ANOVA compares means across three or more groups.