Final answer:
To test the hypothesis, perform a one-sample t-test. The test statistic for this hypothesis test is calculated as (sample mean - hypothesized mean)/(standard deviation/sqrt(sample size)). The p-value can be found using a t-distribution table or a t-distribution calculator.
Step-by-step explanation:
To test the hypothesis, we can perform a one-sample t-test.
The null hypothesis is that the average American consumes 17 ounces of ice cream per month, while the alternative hypothesis is that the average American consumes more than 17 ounces of ice cream per month.
The test statistic for this hypothesis test is calculated as (sample mean - hypothesized mean)/(standard deviation/sqrt(sample size)). For the given data, the test statistic is (18.2 - 17)/(3.9/sqrt(15)) = 2.571.
To find the p-value, we can use a t-distribution table or a t-distribution calculator. For a one-tailed test with 14 degrees of freedom and a t-statistic of 2.571, the p-value is approximately 0.010.
Since the p-value is less than the significance level of 0.10, we reject the null hypothesis.
This means that there is enough evidence to support the claim that the average American consumes more than 17 ounces of ice cream per month.