You work for a manufacturer of steel beams that will be used in construction of a heavily used bridge. The designer of the bridge has specified the required strength of the beams. Your job is to set-up a statistical analysis of the beam strength. Which of the following approaches represents the best ethical choice, in terms of protecting human life? a. Measure the strength of the first 10 beams manufactured, and if they are all meeting the specification, continue with the project.
b. Measure the strengths from a random sample of the beams, and set-up a hypothesis test, with the null hypothesis that the beams meet the specifications. Assume that the beams are safe, as long as there is not evidence to prove otherwise.
c. Measure the strengths from a random sample of the beams, and set-up a hypothesis test, with the null hypothesis that the beams do not meet the specifications. Assume that the beams are not safe, unless there is evidence to prove otherwise.