Try it on paper first. A hint, the key idea and the worked solution are here when you need them.
A researcher measures the same quantity in two groups of people each. Each group has a standard deviation of units. The two groups have different means. When the researcher pools the two groups into one group of , the combined variance is square units. She lost the group means, but she remembers that the mean of group A was units and that the mean of group B was higher. She wants to rebuild the missing facts. Show first that for two groups of equal size and equal variance , whose means differ by , the combined variance is . Then find , the mean of group B and the combined mean.
and , where . To correct a reading, change and .
Have you tried it?
Work it out on paper first. It is fine to get stuck or make a mistake: that is how we learn. When you are ready, go through the solution one step at a time, and check each step against your own.
Step 1. The formula. The combined mean is halfway between the two means, so . Then
This simplifies to .
Step 2. Solve for . gives and units.
Step 3. The mean of group B. It is higher than by , so it is units.
Step 4. The combined mean. units.
Answer: the means differ by units, group B has mean units, and the combined mean is units.
Watch out. The combined standard deviation is units, which is larger than . Pooling two groups with different means always makes the spread larger than the spread inside either group.
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