A.

Hypothesis Testing

When interpreting research findings, researchers need to assess whether these findings
may have occurred by chance. Hypothesis testing is a systematic procedure for deciding whether the
results of a research study support a particular theory which applies to a population.

Hypothesis testing uses sample data to evaluate a hypothesis about a population. A

hypothesis test assesses how unusual the result is, whether it is reasonable chance variation or
whether the result is too extreme to be considered chance variation.

B. Basic Concepts
1. Variable are any characteristics that can take on different values such as height, age,
temperature or test scores.
2. The independent variable is the cause. Its value is independent of other variables. The
independent variable is controlled in the problem.
3. The dependent variable is the effect. Its value depends on changes in the independent
variable. The variable that changes because of this control in the independent variable.

Example : In a study to determine whether how long a student sleeps affects test scores.
The independent variable is the length of time spent in sleeping. The dependent variable is
the test scores.

4. Research/ Alternative and Null hypothesis

To carry out statistical hypothesis testing research / alternative and null hypothesis are
employed ;

 Research/ Alternative Hypothesis – this is the hypothesis that you propose, also known as the
alternative hypothesis H1. Research / Alternative hypothesis, H1 is a statistical proposition stating
that there is a significant difference between a hypothesized value of a population parameter and
its estimated value. For example :

H1 : There is a relationship between intelligence and academic results.

H1 : First year university students obtain higher grades after an intensive Statistics
course.

H1 : Males and females differ in their levels of stress

 The null hypothesis, Ho is the opposite of the research / Alternative hypothesis and expresses that
there is no relationship between variables, or no difference between groups. For example :

Ho : There is no relationship between intelligence and academic results.

Ho : First year university students do not obtain higher grades after an alternative
Statistics course.

Ho : Males and females will not differ in their levels of stress.

 Mathematical Symbols Used in Null and Research / Alternative Hypothesis.
Null Hypothesis ( H0 ) Research / Alternative Hypothesis ( H1 )

Equal ( = ) Not Equal ( =/ ) or greater than ( > )

or less than ( < )

Greater than or Equal Less than ( < )

to (_ > )

Less than or equal More than ( > )

to ( _< )

The purpose of hypothesis testing is to test whether the null hypothesis (there is no
difference, no effect) can be rejected or approved. If the null hypothesis is rejected,
then the research/ alternative hypothesis is accepted, then the research/
alternative hypothesis is rejected.

In hypothesis testing , a value is set to assess whether the null hypothesis is

accepted or rejected, and whether the result is statistically significant.

C. Types of Test Used with the Alternative Hypothesis, H1

1. A one –tailed test results from an H1 which specifies a direction, i.e when the H1 states
that the parameter is in fact either bigger or smaller than the value specified in the Ho.

A one – tailed test may be either left – tailed or right – tailed. A left – tailed test is used
when the H1 states that the true value of the parameter specified in the Ho is less than the
Ho claims. A right – tailed test is used when the H1 states that the true value of the
parameter specified in the Ho is greater than the Ho claims.

2. A two – tailed test results from an H1 which does not specify a direction. I,e. when the H1
states the Ho is wrong.

The main difference between one – tailed and two – tailed tests is that one – tailed tests will
only have one critical region, whereas two –tailed tests will have two critical regions.

 Critical region also known as the rejection region, is a set of values for the test
statistic for which the null hypothesis is rejected. i.e. if the observed test statistic is
in the critical region, then we reject the null hypothesis, and accept the alternative
hypothesis.
 A critical value is the score the sample would need to decide against the null
hypothesis.
 A probability value is used to assess the significance of the statistical test. If the null
hypothesis is rejected, then the alternative to the null hypothesis is accepted.
 Examples :

a. A light bulb manufacturer claims that its energy saving light bulbs last an average
of 60 days. Set up a hypothesis test to check this claim.

Ho : The mean lifetime of an energy saving light bulb is 60 days.

H1 : The mean lifetime of an energy saving light bulb is not 60 days.

Because of the “is not” in the H1, we have to consider both the possibility that the
lifetime of the energy saving bulb is greater than 60, and that it is less than 60.This
means, we have to use a two – tailed test.

b. The manufacturer now decides that it is only interested whether the mean
lifetime of an energy saving light bulb is less than 60 days. What changes would
you make from example a ?

Ho : The mean lifetime of an energy saving light bulb is 60 days.

H1 : The mean lifetime of an energy saving light bulb is less than 60 days.
Now we have a “less than” in the H1. This means that instead of performing a two
– tailed test, we will perform a left – sided one – tailed test.

D. Level of Significance

Is defined as the criteria or threshold value based on which one can reject the null
Hypothesis or fail to reject the null hypothesis. The level of significance determines whether the
outcome of hypothesis testing is statistically significant or otherwise. The significance level is
also called as alpha level. The level of significance can take values such as 0.10, 0.05, 0.01. The
most common value of the level of significance is 0.05.

E. Common Methods Used to Test Hypothesis

1. Traditional or Classical method has been used since the hypothesis testing was formulated.
2. P – Value Method which became popular with the advent of computers and statistical
software. It is also known as the probability value
F. Guides for Accepting or Rejecting the Null Hypothesis
1. For Traditional or Classical Method
 If the computed value is greater than the tabular or critical value, reject the null
hypothesis , and accept the alternative hypothesis
 If the computed value of the test statistic is less than the tabular or critical value,
accept the null hypothesis, and reject the alternative hypothesis.
2. For P –Value Method
 If the p – value is less than 0.05, the result is statistically significant. In this case, you
reject the null hypothesis favoring the alternative hypothesis.
 If the p – value is greater than 0.05, then the result is not statistically significant,
and hence accept the null hypothesis.
G. Some Commonly Used Statistical Techniques *
 Parametric Tests are those that assume that the sample data comes from a
population that follows a probability distribution – the normal distribution –with a
fixed set of parameters. Common parametric tests are focused on analyzing and
comparing the mean or variance of data.

If the mean more accurately represents the center of the distribution of your data, and your
sample size is large enough , use a parametric test even if you have a large sample size.

1. t – Tests are employed to compare the mean score on some continuous variable for two
groups. The null hypothesis to be tested is there is no difference between the two groups
(e.g. anxiety scores for males and females are not different).

T – Test can be employed to compare the mean scores of two different groups (independent
– sample t-test) or to compare the same group of people on two different occasions (paired
– sample t-test).

In addition to assessing whether the difference between the two groups is statistically
significant.

2. ANOVA

While t – tests compare the mean score on one variable for two groups, analysis of variance
is used to test more than two groups. Analysis of variance would be employed to test
whether there are differences in anxiety scores for students from different disciplines
referring to the previous example.

Analysis of variance compares the variance (variability in scores) between the different
groups (believed to be due to the variable) with the variability within each group believed to
be due to chance). An F ratio is calculated; a large F ratio indicates that there is more
variability between the groups (caused by the independent variable) than there is within
each group. A significant F test indicates that we can reject the null hypothesis; i.e. that
there is no difference between the groups.

3. Correlation Test

Is a statistical method used to measure the strength of the linear relationship between two
variables and compute their association. Simply put – correlation analysis calculates the
level of change in one variable due to the change in the other.

 Pearson Correlation Coefficient 9r) is used to demonstrate whether two variables

are correlated or related to each other.

Examples of research questions a Pearson Correlation can Examine

 Is there a statistically significant relationship between age, as measured in years,

and height, measured in inches ?
  Is there a relationship between temperature, measured in degrees Fahrenheit, and
ice cream sales, measured by income.
 Is there a relationship between job satisfaction, as measured by the work climate,
and income, measured in pesos?
4. Simple Linear Regression

Is a parametric test, meaning it makes certain assumptions about the data

 Non – Parametric Tests or Distribution – Free Tests

When data are not distributed normally or when they are on an ordinal level of
measurement, we have to use non – parametric tests for analysis.

1. Spearman – Rank Order Correlation Coefficient

Is a non-parametric statistical technique for measuring the relationship between two

ordinal variables or rank – ordinal correlation.

2. Chi – square test for independence

It is used to test whether two categorical variables are related to each other. Also, to
determine if there is a significant relationship between two nominal (categorical) variables.
The frequency of each category for one nominal variable is comparted across the categories
of the second nominal variable.

3. Chi – square goodness of fit test

It is used to test whether the frequency distribution of a categorical variable is different

from your expectations.