Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology

College of Arts and Sciences

MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCES DEPARTMENT

Psy 102: Psychological Statistics

Lecture prepared by: JAYNELLE G. DOMINGO, MSc. MathEd

 LESSON OBJECTIVES:

At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to:

ü Differentiate null form alternative hypothesis

ü Formulate null and alternative hypothesis for a given

research problem

ü Compare and contrast directional and non-directional test

ü Illustrate the steps in hypothesis testing

 Introduction

Basic statistics courses include lessons on summarizing and

organizing and describing a set of data, or a frequency distribution
in terms of how do the scores typically look like (measures of
central tendency such as the mean, median and mode) or how
much they spread out from high to low scores (measures of
variability like range, variance and standard deviation). In the
previous modules, you learned the meaning of these concepts
and how to compute for these values using long hand
calculations.
 Introduction

However, analysis goes beyond this purpose. Many

problems require that we decide whether or not a statement
about the mean or the standard deviation of a sample set of
scores is true or false. In statistics, this statement is called
hypothesis and the decision making about whether this
statement is true or false is called hypothesis testing.
 Hypothesis

A hypothesis is basically a statement about the target

population. Hypotheses are formulated as a result of years of
experience, observations and researches. However, due to
many factors, the whole population cannot be studied.
Instead, we take or select a random sample from the
population being studied and from the data gathered, we
decide whether the hypothesis is true or false.
 Hypothesis

A statistical hypothesis is an assertion or conjecture

concerning one or more population. It is a preconceived idea
about the values of the population parameters which can be
verified through statistical tests. This conjecture may or may
not be true. There are two forms of statistical hypothesis:
the null hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis.
 Hypothesis

The Null hypothesis (denoted by 𝑯𝒐 ) is a statistical

hypothesis that states that there is no difference between a
parameter and a specific value or there is no difference between two
parameters. This is the hypothesis to be tested and it represents
what the researcher doubts to be true.
The Alternative hypothesis (denoted by 𝑯𝒂) is a statistical
hypothesis that states a specific difference between a parameter and
a specific value or that there is a difference between two
parameters. This is the operational statement of the theory that the
researcher believes to be true and aims to prove.
 Hypothesis

Example 1. Suppose we are interested in the average

performance of a group of students in an English test.
Specifically, we are interested in deciding (hypothesis testing)
whether or not the mean performance (denoted by the Greek
small letter Mu, μ) of the students is say for example, equal
to 85.
 Hypothesis

The Null hypothesis (Ho) is : 𝜇 = 85.

“There is no difference between the mean score of the
students and 85.”

The Alternative hypothesis (Ha) is 𝜇 ≠ 85.

“There is a difference between the mean scores of the
students and 85.”
 Hypothesis

The decision is either to retain or reject the null hypothesis.

If the information or data that we gathered about the performance
of students in the test (mean score in the English test) is consistent
with the null hypothesis, then we conclude that the null hypothesis
is true which will lead us to retain the null hypothesis. On the other
hand, if the information or data that we gathered is inconsistent with
the null hypothesis, then we would conclude that the null hypothesis
is false which will lead us to reject the null hypothesis.
 Hypothesis

As shown in the two hypotheses, the alternative

hypothesis is a statement that contradicts or disagrees with the
null hypothesis. If the null hypothesis is rejected (meaning that
the statement indicating there is no difference between the
parameter and the specified value is FALSE), then the alternative
hypothesis is the conclusion or accepted (meaning that the
statement indicating that there is difference between the
parameter and the specified value is TRUE).
 Hypothesis

Example 2 . Suppose we are interested to examine the pretest

and posttest Math performance of a sample of students.
Specifically, we are interested in deciding whether or not the
mean performance of the students in the pretest and posttest
are the same.
 Hypothesis

The Null hypothesis (Ho) is : 𝜇!"#$#%$ = 𝜇!&%$$#%$ .

“There is no difference between the mean pretest score and
mean posttest score.”

The Alternative hypothesis (Ha) is: 𝜇!"#$#%$ ≠ 𝜇!&%$$#%$ .

“There is a difference between the mean pretest score and mean
posttest score.”
 Hypothesis

Example 3. Suppose we are interested to compare the mean scores of

two groups of students from two different Math classes.

The Null hypothesis (Ho) is : 𝜇!"#$% ' = 𝜇!"#$% (

“There is no difference between the mean scores of Group 1 and
Group 2.”

The Alternative hypothesis (Ha) is: 𝜇!"#$% ' ≠ 𝜇!"#$% (

“There is a difference between the mean scores of Group 1 and
Group 2.”
Directional and Non-directional Tests of Hypothesis

A test of hypothesis is of two types, a one-tailed

(directional) test of hypothesis and a two-tailed (non-
directional) test of hypothesis.

A one-tailed test of hypothesis occurs when the research has

an a priori expectation about the sample value he expects to
observe. The researcher wants to test whether a mean is larger
or smaller than the hypothesized population mean.
Directional and Non-directional Tests of Hypothesis

A two-tailed test of hypothesis occurs when the alternative

hypothesis does not specify a directional difference for the
parameter of interest. This is appropriate when the researcher
does not have a priori expectation regarding the value he
expects to observe in the sample. The researcher wants to see
if the sample mean is different from the hypothesized
population mean, in either direction.
Directional and Non-directional Tests of Hypothesis
Directional and Non-directional Tests of Hypothesis

Example: A classroom teacher hypothesizes that using

lecture method in teaching a specific lesson is the same as
teaching it using demonstration method in terms of students’
learning. This means that students who were taught using
the lecture method would perform similarly (say on a test)
than those who were taught using demonstration method.
Directional and Non-directional Tests of Hypothesis

The null hypothesis is (Ho) 𝜇!"#$%&" = 𝜇'"()*+$&,$-)* .

This means that the performance of the students who
were taught using both methods of teaching are the
same, or not different.
 Directional and Non-directional Tests of Hypothesis

There are three possible alternative hypotheses (Ha) to this null hypothesis:

𝜇!"#$%&" ≠ 𝜇'"()*+$&,$-)* The mean score of the students using lecture

method is not equal to the mean score using
demonstration method.
𝜇!"#$%&" > 𝜇'"()*+$&,$-)* The mean score of the students using lecture
method is higher than the mean score using
demonstration method.
𝜇!"#$%&" < 𝜇'"()*+$&,$-)* The mean score of the students using lecture
method is lower than the mean score using
demonstration method.
Directional and Non-directional Tests of Hypothesis

The first alternative hypothesis allows for the possibility that

either 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛'#($)"# is greater than or less than
𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛*#+&,%$"-$.&, . This is a non-directional (two-tailed) test.
Whereas the second alternative hypothesis is specific that the
𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛'#($)"# is greater than 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛*#+&,%$"-$.&, – an example of a
directional (one-tailed) test. The third alternative hypothesis is
also a directional (one-tailed) test.
Directional and Non-directional Tests of Hypothesis

The null and alternative hypotheses are stated together as shown:

Directional and Non-directional Tests of Hypothesis

Example 1. A teacher thinks that using a module will enhance the

performance of the students in Statistics. In the past, the average grades
of students was 75.

Ho : μ ≤ 75. The null hypothesis is one-tailed (right). The null hypothesis

is that the performance will not be enhanced, so it could the same or
even lower (≤) .

Ha: μ > 75. The alternative hypothesis is one-tailed (right) because he

expects that the performance will increase. The alternate hypothesis is
that the performance will be enhanced (>).
Directional and Non-directional Tests of Hypothesis

Example 2. A psychologist thinks that a therapy will reduce the anxiety

of patients suffering from insomnia. In the past, the average levels of
anxiety was 4.0 ( on a scale of 1-5) .

Ho : μ ≥ 4.0. The null hypothesis is one-tailed (left) .The null hypothesis

is that the anxiety will not be reduced, so it could be the same or even
higher (≥)

Ha: μ < 4.0. The alternative hypothesis is one-tailed (left) because he

expects that the anxiety will decrease. The alternate hypothesis is that
the anxiety will be reduced (<).
Directional and Non-directional Tests of Hypothesis

Example 3. A research thinks that advertising in radio or print will change

the buying preference of teenagers for a certain perfume. However, the
researcher is not sure whether the sales will increase or decrease after the
advertisement. In the past, the average sales was P50, 000.

Ho:𝜇 = 50,000 (The average sales after the advertisement does not differ
from 50,000).

Ha:𝜇 ≠ 50,000 (The average sales after the advertisement is different

from 50,000). It could be higher or lower, thus a directional (two- tailed)
test.
 Types of Error

Whichever hypothesis (the null or alternative) is

correct, there is always a chance that the sampling error will
cause the researcher to reject that hypothesis. We may
reject a null hypothesis that is true or we may accept a null
hypothesis that is false. These two types of mistakes in
statistical hypothesis testing are called Type I error and Type
II error.
 Types of Error

A Type I error is incurred if a researcher rejects a null

hypothesis when in fact it is true. The probability of
committing a Type I error is denoted by the Greek letter
alpha (α).

A Type II error is incurred when the researcher retains

the null hypothesis when in fact it is false. The probability of
committing a Type II error is denoted by the Greek letter beta
(β).
 Types of Error

A correct decision is made when the null hypothesis is

retained when it is really true, and therefore should be retained. The
probability of making this correct decision is 1 – α. That is why the
adopted level of significance in conducting a test of hypothesis is
0.05 and the probability of correctly accepting a true hypothesis is
0.95.
A second correct decision is made when the null
hypothesis is rejected when it is really false, and therefore should
be rejected. The probability of making this correct decision is 1 –
β.
 Types of Error

The level of significance is the maximum probability of

committing a Type I error. Researchers generally agree on using
two arbitrary significance: 0.05 and 0.01 level. A level of
significance of 0.05 or 5% means that there is 5% chance of
rejecting a true null hypothesis. It also means that when we
repeat sampling from a given population of interest, the
probability of getting a result similar to the one presently
observed is 95%, and the probability of getting a different result is
only 5%.
 Types of Error

The same is true for a significance level of 0.01. The

probability of getting the same result is 99% while the
probability of getting a different result is only 1%.
Significance level indicates that the probability of getting the
result due to plain chance is equal to or less than the alpha
level (α). The choice of alpha level depends on the
consequences associated with making a Type I error. The
smaller the value of the significance level, the smaller will be
the rejection region.
 Types of Error

It should be noted that the 𝛼 and 𝛽 are

inversely related for a fixed sample size (n). To
reduce both error, there is a need to increase the
sample size.
 Types of Error

The table summarizes the two types of error.

 Types of Error

Illustration 1:

Using court law decisions to illustrate it further, Type I

error is incurred when an innocent person is convicted guilty of a
crime he actually did not commit. On the other hand, Type II error
is incurred when a guilty person is declared innocent for a crime
he actually committed. A correct decision is made when a person
who actually did not commit the crime is declared innocent, or
when a person who actually committed the crime is declared
guilty.
 Types of Error

Illustration 2:

Another illustration is on the smoke detectors set up on

buildings. If there is no fire, the smoke detector is either in alarm state or
no alarm state. Alternatively, if there is a fire, the smoke detector is
either in alarm state or no alarm state (i.e. faulty batteries). If the smoke
detector alarms even when there is no fire, then Type I error is incurred.
If the smoke detector does not alarm when there is fire, Type II error is
incurred. The smoke detector is efficient (it works well) if it alarms when
there is fire, or if it does alarm when there is no fire.
 Steps in Hypothesis Testing

Step 1. Formulate the null and alternative hypotheses.

The null hypothesis is usually that the observations are the

result purely of chance or the hypothesis of no effect.

The alternative hypothesis is that there is a real effect, or

that the observations are the result of this real effect plus chance
variations.
 Steps in Hypothesis Testing

Example: A researcher wants to determine whether boys experience the same levels of
test anxiety than girls.
Step 1.
Null hypothesis: There is no difference on the test anxiety between boys and girls.
Ho : 𝜇!"#$%&' )*'+ = 𝜇!"#$%&' ,$-.+
Alternative hypotheses:
a. There is difference on the test anxiety between boys and girls (two- tailed test).
Ha : 𝜇!"#$%&' )*'+ ≠ 𝜇!"#$%&' ,$-.+
b. The test anxiety of boys is higher than girls (one-tailed test, right tail).
Ha : 𝜇!"#$%&' )*'+ > 𝜇!"#$%&' ,$-.+
c. The test anxiety of boys is lower than girls. (one- tailed test, left tail).
Ha : 𝜇!"#$%&' )*'+ < 𝜇!"#$%&' ,$-.+
 Steps in Hypothesis Testing

Step 2. Set the level of significance

The level of significance refers to the probability level that

is considered such that the hypothesis being tested warrants
support. In social and educational researches, the level of
significance is usually set at 0.05. The level of significance gives the
probability of incorrectly rejecting a true null hypothesis (Type I
error). Hence, this probability should be small.
 Steps in Hypothesis Testing

Step 3. Select the appropriate test statistics

Given a statistical hypothesis, there is a specific and appropriate test statistics

for it. The choice of the statistical tests depend on the following:

a. level of measurement – whether the level of measurement is nominal,

ordinal, interval or ratio
b. objective of the study – whether the researcher would like to compare
means, or to compare two groups , or more than two groups
c. design of the study – whether case control, cohort , cross sectional, and so
on.
 Steps in Hypothesis Testing

d. whether the samples are related (dependent) or independent – In

independent sample, the probability of selection of sample/s in one group
in not affected by the selection in the other group/s.
e. assumptions on the distribution of the data
1. Parametric tests – can be used when the assumptions about the
parameters in the population like normality, independence and
homogeneity hold true.
2. Nonparametric tests –can be used when the assumptions for the use of
parametric tests are questionable in the data. These tests have fewer
and less stringent assumptions about the population parameters.
 Steps in Hypothesis Testing

In our example, the independent variable is sex (boys and girls) and it
is nominal; and the dependent variable is test anxiety (level as measured by a
test) and it is interval. The objective of the study is to compare two means and
the samples are independent. Assuming that the assumption of normality and
homogeneity are met, then a parametric test is appropriate.

In this case, we will use independent –samples t-test*.

*The procedure in computing independent samples t-tests and other parametric

tests, as well as the nonparametric tests will be discussed on the succeeding
modules, using SPSS.
 Steps in Hypothesis Testing

Step 4. Establish the critical (rejection) region

Determine the value (and the region) that the test statistics must
attain to be declared statistically significant, that is to be able to reject the null
hypothesis. The level of significance determines which values of the test
statistics have very low probability of occurrence under the null hypothesis.
Most often, all absolute values of the test statistics greater than or equal to
these values have very low probability of occurrence under the null hypothesis.
Therefore, if the test statistic computed for the sample data falls in this region,
then there is a basis for rejecting the null hypothesis.
 Steps in Hypothesis Testing

The critical values (CV) are summarized below.

 Steps in Hypothesis Testing

For the two tailed tests, the null hypothesis should be

rejected when the test value is in either of the two critical
regions. A one-tailed test is either right- tailed or left tailed,
depending on the direction of the inequality of the
alternative hypothesis.
 Steps in Hypothesis Testing

Step 5. Compute the value of the test statistics from the sample data.

Perform the required calculations of the test statistics (from Step 3).
Compare the computed value of the test statistics with the critical value (from
Step 4) to determine if it falls within the critical (rejection) region. If for
example, the computed t-statistics for the independent sample t-test is say,
𝟒. 𝟐𝟑𝒂 , and the critical value is ± 1.96. The test value is greater than the critical
value, so it falls on the rejection region.

a - This is only a hypothetical t-value. The procedure of computing this will be discussed in detail
in the succeeding learning unit, using SPSS.
 Steps in Hypothesis Testing

Step 6. State your conclusion

Reject the null hypothesis if the test statistics has a value

that fall into the critical (rejection) region; otherwise do not reject
the null hypothesis. If the null hypothesis is rejected, then the
alternative hypothesis is the conclusion. However, if there is no
sufficient evidence to reject the null hypothesis, it is retained but
not accepted.
 Steps in Hypothesis Testing

In the example, since the test value (t= 4.23) falls in

the critical region, there is enough evidence to reject the null
hypothesis stating that there is no difference on the test
anxiety between boys and girls. The conclusion is that boys
and girls experience different levels of test anxiety (the
alternative hypothesis).
 Steps in Hypothesis Testing

Illustration 1. In a recent survey, the average salary of sales

managers in Metro Manila is more than P40, 000 per month
and the standard deviation is P6, 400 . A sample of 30 sales
managers has a mean salary of P41, 800. At α = 0.05, test
the claim that the sales managers earn more than P40, 000
per month.
 Steps in Hypothesis Testing

Step 1. State the hypothesis and identify the claim

Ho : μ ≤ P40,000 : It is not more than P40,000 (It could be lower or equal)
Ha: μ > P40, 000 (the claim): It is more than P40,00
Step 2. Level of significance is 0.05
Step 3. The appropriate test statistics is a z-test**. ( It is used when n≥ 30, or when
the population is normally distributed and the population standard deviation is
known).
𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 − ℎ𝑦𝑝𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛
𝑧=
𝑝𝑜𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 + 𝑛

**In the succeeding modules, the Special Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software will
be utilized, to avoid long calculations.
 Steps in Hypothesis Testing

Step 4. Compute the test value. In this example

41,800 − 40,000
𝑧= = 1.54
6,400 + 30

Step 5. This is a right-tailed test, the critical value is z= 1.65. The test value (z) is
less than the critical value.

Step 6. Do not reject (retain) the null hypothesis, since the test value falls in
the noncritical region. The conclusion is that the average salary of sales
managers is not more than P40, 000.
 Steps in Hypothesis Testing

Illustration 2. A recruitment agency claims that the average

starting salary for call center agents in Pampanga is P24,000
per month. A sample of 10 call center agents has a mean
salary of P23,220 and a standard deviation of P400. Is there
enough evidence to reject the claim?
 Steps in Hypothesis Testing

Step 1. State the hypotheses and identify the claim

Ho : 𝜇 = 𝑃 24,000 (the claim): It is equal to P24,000.
Ha: 𝜇 ≠ 𝑃 24,000 : It is not equal to P24,00.
Step 2. Level of significance is 0.05
Step 3. The appropriate test statistics is a t-test (It is used when n < 30, or when
the population is normally distributed and the population standard deviation is
unknown).
𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 − ℎ𝑦𝑝𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛
𝑡=
𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 + 𝑛

𝑑𝑒𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑜𝑚 (𝑑𝑓) = 𝑛 − 1

 Steps in Hypothesis Testing

Step 5. This is a two tailed-tailed test. Using the table for critical values of
the t-Distribution*** (which can be found in most statistics textbooks as
appendices), the critical value is ±2.262. The test value is greater than the
critical value.
Step 6. There is enough evidence to reject the claim that the starting salary
of call center agents in Pampanga is P24, 000. The conclusion is that the
average salary of sales managers is not equal to P24, 000. It is significantly
lower.

*** In the succeeding modules where SPSS will be utilized, the table for critical values of the t-Distribution is
not necessary. The software includes an output that computes the value of the test statistics and compares it
with the critical value at a certain level of significance.
 References

Dela Rosa, E. D. (2019). Learning Module in Statistics with SPSS

Applications. Philippine Copyright 2019.

Deauna, M. C. (2011). Applied Educational Statistics 1. Quezon

City, Philippines C & E Publishing 2011