Chapter 13 Testing Hypotheses.ppt

Chapter 13 Testing Hypotheses Overview General Examples Specific Examples Research and Null Hypotheses One-Tailed Tests One-tailed hypothesis test – A hypothesis test in which the alternative is stated in such a way that the probability of making a Type I error is entirely in one tail of a sampling distribution. Right-tailed test – A one-tailed test in which the sample outcome is hypothesized to be at the right tail of the sampling distribution. Left-tailed test – A one-tailed test in which the sample outcome is hypothesized to be at the left tail of the sampling distribution. Two-Tailed Tests Two-tailed hypothesis test – A hypothesis test in which the region of rejection falls equally within both tails of the sampling distribution. Probability Values Z statistic (obtained) – The test statistic computed by converting a sample statistic (such as the mean) to a Z score. The formula for obtaining Z varies from test to test. P value – The probability associated with the obtained value of Z. Probability Values Probability Values Alpha ( ) – The level of probability at which the null hypothesis is rejected. It is customary to set alpha at the .05, .01, or .001 level. Five Steps to Hypothesis Testing Making assumptions Stating the research and null hypotheses and selecting alpha Selecting the sampling distribution and specifying the test statistic Computing the test statistic Making a decision and interpreting the results t Test t statistic (obtained) – The test statistic computed to test the null hypothesis about a population mean when the population standard deviation is unknown and is estimated using the sample standard deviation. t distribution – A family of curves, each determined by its degrees of freedom (df). It is used when the population standard deviation is unknown and the standard error is estimated from the sample standard deviation. Degrees of freedom (df) – The number of scores that are free to vary in calculating a statistic. t distribution t distri