The Alpha Shoe Company’s advertising department wants to publish an ad about a new basketball shoe it claims will enable athletes to jump higher. Alpha attributes this increase in lift to a new sole design, core, and tread. An independent testing institut

The Alpha Shoe Company’s advertising department wants to publish an ad about a new basketball shoe it claims will enable athletes to jump higher. Alpha attributes this increase in lift to a new sole design, core, and tread.

An independent testing institute conducted a study on the shoe, called the “Pluto,” to determine if it really does result in higher jumping heights, in comparison to four other shoes. Five groups of four professional basketball players tested the shoes. The mean jumping height for each shoe was reported as follows:

1. Pluto: 29.3 inches
2. Omega II: 29.0 inches
3. Beta Super: 28.7 inches
4. Delta: 28.4 inches
5. Gamma: 28.0 inches

Alpha did not report any inferential statistics in their ad, but it stated, “As you can clearly see, our Pluto shoes offer an obvious vertical lift advantage in comparison to other leading brands. Even a fraction of an inch can make all the difference in a big game!” Being the good consumer of research that you now are, what questions would you have after reading Alpha Shoe Company's ad?

Post  your explanation of how the Alpha Shoe Company used the information they obtained from the testing institute. What additional questions do you still have after reading the ad? What did the researchers do correctly? What criticisms do you have of the company’s approach? Make a suggestion for a follow-up study that might be useful to the company and use ANOVA methodology as part of the approach.