Step 1 :Given values are the sample proportion \(p_{hat} = 0.42\), the hypothesized population proportion \(p_0 = 0.50\), and the sample size \(n = 260\).
Step 2 :We calculate the test statistic using the formula \(Z = \frac{{p_{hat} - p_0}}{{\sqrt{{p_0 * (1 - p_0) / n}}}}\).
Step 3 :Substituting the given values into the formula, we get \(Z = \frac{{0.42 - 0.50}}{{\sqrt{{0.50 * (1 - 0.50) / 260}}}}\).
Step 4 :Solving the above expression, we get \(Z = -2.5799224794555364\).
Step 5 :Rounding the value of the test statistic to two decimal places, we get \(\boxed{-2.58}\).