OHTH 2160 Research in Health Sciences - Design and Hypothesis Testing

Discipline of Psychology
School of Health Sciences

Research in Health Sciences 2013
OHTH 2160
GOALS FOR THIS TOPIC
Understand the essential differences between
experimental, quasi-experimental and non-experimental
designs, in terms of their design characteristics and the
types of questions that each type of design can answer.
Understand why experimental research is so important
and so highly regarded, particularly in the context of
intervention research.
Understand the four essential defining characteristics of
true experiments
Understand why quasi-experiments are not true
experiments, and what this means in terms of answering
research questions.
Understand sources of variability in data and the concept
of internal validity, in terms of control groups and research
design.
Understand the logic underlying null hypothesis
significance testing.
Define and explain reliability and validity.
Created by John eece !age " of "# Created on "$%&'%(&") &*+))+&&
Contact details+ phone+ ''(*.,*"(- fax+ ''(*.,)&)- e-mail+ .ohn.reece/rmit.edu.au
%var%www%apps%conversion%tmp%scratch0(%()##)1'').doc
2asic esearch Design and 3ypothesis 4esting
Hypothetical study:
Does exposure to violent videos lead to higher levels of
aggressive play in young children?

4otal N 5 *& 6n 5 (* in each group7
Experimental group+ 8atch violent videos
Control group+ 8atch neutral videos
9ideotaped playing together after exposure to
videos and level of aggressive play recorded.
:.9.+ 4ype of video material
4wo levels+ 9iolent and neutral
D.9.+ ;evel of post-video aggression
Created by John eece !age ( of "# Created on "$%&'%(&") &*+))+&&
Operationalised as+ <umber of aggressive acts
recorded in post-video play session.
4rue experimental design+
". Control group
(. andom allocation of sub.ects to groups
). Clearly defined :.9.=s and D.9.=s
1. >xperimenter manipulation of :9
Compare with quasi-experimental study+
? comparison of aggression in boys and girls after
exposure to violent video material.
:.9.+ @ex 6male vs. female7
:.9. groups are pre-existing- cannot randomly allocate.
Non-experimental:
4he relationship between television viewing hours and
the level of aggressive play in children.
Don=t designate variables as :.9.s or D.9.s.
hat!s so good a"out experimental research?
Cause and effect!
Intervention research
CONSORT
#ose a hypothesis+
Created by John eece !age ) of "# Created on "$%&'%(&") &*+))+&&
Children who watch violent video material will exhibit
higher levels of post-viewing aggressive play than
children who watch neutral content videos.
$alsifia"ility+ @ir Aarl !opper.
:t is possible to prove statements%hypotheses "&&B
false, but impossible to prove them "&&B true.
C?ll crows are blacDE
Fou can falsify statements, but not questions.
C8hat colour are crowsGE
@o whatG
Next Step C!llecti!n !" ra# $ata%
Descriptive statistics: ?im to capture the essential features
of the results in an easily comprehensible form.
Hraphical display
<umerical descriptives
%easure of central tendency
C8hat=s the typical or average scoreGE
Iean 6%7
%easure of varia"ility
C3ow much do the scores vary around the typical or average
scoreGE
@tandard deviation 6&D7
Jor our data+
Created by John eece !age 1 of "# Created on "$%&'%(&") &*+))+&&
9iolent video group+ % 5 '.1', &D 5 (.&&
<eutral video group+ % 5 #.((, &D 5 ".$,
H&p!thesis testin' an$ statistical si'ni"icance%
8hen we run our experiment, we are testing a
hypothesis'
Hypothesis+
a statement about what we expected to find- a
prediction of the experimental outcome. ? well-
educated guess.
Hypothesis+
Children who watch violent video material will exhibit
higher levels of post-viewing aggressive play than
children who watch neutral content videos.
CONTROL GRO(P )*P)RI+)NTAL GRO(P
6<eutral videos7 69iolent videos7
(* @ub.ects 6n 5 (*7 (* @ub.ects 6n 5 (*7
Iean level of Iean level of
aggressive play 5 #.(( acts aggressive play 5 '.1' acts
K one group has a higher mean than the other, but what
does that meanG :s that difference large, small, a
chance result, or something that=s unli(ely to occur "y
chanceG
4hree important questions+
Created by John eece !age * of "# Created on "$%&'%(&") &*+))+&&
". :s there a statistically significant difference between the
two groupsG
(. 8hat do these results this tell us about our hypothesisG
Do these results support, or fail to support our
hypothesisG
). ?re these sample results an accurate reflection of what=s
going on in the populationG
8hen we test a hypothesis statistically, we want to
reach some conclusion about what=s going on in our
population of interest, and we use our sample data to
reach that conclusion. 4his is called estimation or
inference.
8hyG Lur results have greater importance and
relevance if we can generalise them to the population at
large, and not .ust limit them to our sample. 8e want to
be able to maDe statements about what=s going on in
the world at large.
$irst (ey concept+
out there in the population at large there are true
population means for these variables 6called
parameters7.
:f : were able to bring every child in the )orld into my
lab and sub.ect them to this experiment, : would Dnow
the true population mean, the mean for everybody.
Created by John eece !age # of "# Created on "$%&'%(&") &*+))+&&
8e can never really (no) what the true population
mean is, because we can never actually test a )hole
population.
:nstead, we have to test a small section of that
population, which we call the sample.
2ased on the results of that sample, we maDe an
Ceducated guessE 6called an estimate or inference7
about the population mean, and our "est guess about
the value of the population mean is the sample mean.
egardless of what the true population mean is, there is
al)ays the li(elihood that : will get a sample mean that
has a different value from the population mean, si,pl&
$-e t! chance.
4he difference between the mean of my sample and the
corresponding mean in the population is called
sa,plin' err!r, and it is a chance event.
8e hope that by selecting our sample in a truly random
fashion that we minimise the level of sampling error, but
it=s always a threat hanging over us.
@maller samples have a greater liDelihood of sampling
error than larger samples.
@o, to understand hypothesis testing, the first concept
to understand is the concept of sampling error, and the
fact that sampling error happens by chance.
Created by John eece !age , of "# Created on "$%&'%(&") &*+))+&&
&econd (ey concept+
8hen we carry out a statistical hypothesis test, we
have to maDe a choice, based on our sample results,
concerning two competing possibilities.
Null hypothesis 5 our samples come from populations
where there is no difference between the population
means.
:f : were able to test the )hole population, : would find
that the population means for each of these groups
would be the same.
<ot only does the null hypothesis state that there is no
difference in the population means, it states that an&
$i""erence that #e see in !-r sa,ple ,eans. is
si,pl& $-e t! chance 6i.e. to sampling error7.
*lternative hypothesis 5 :f you could drag the whole
population into your lab and test them, you would find a
difference between the means.
4wo competing hypotheses
the null and the alternative. Lur aim in hypothesis
testing is to decide which of the two we will accept, and
we have to maDe our decision /ase$ !n the res-lts in
!-r sa,ple.
Lur aim is to decide whether there is a significant
difference between these two groups.
Created by John eece !age $ of "# Created on "$%&'%(&") &*+))+&&
8e do this by testing the null hypothesis only 6the
alternative hypothesis doesn=t come into calculations7,
and what we try to do is prove that the null hypothesis
is )rong.
:n statistical terms, we try to re+ect it.
:f we decide to re.ect the null hypothesis, then )e are
forced to accept the alternative.
4he logic that we follow to do this is as follows+
". 8e assume that the null hypothesis is true
(. >ven when there=s no true difference in the population
6i.e., null hypothesis true7, we accept that our sample
means may hint that there=s some difference, simply due
to chance 6sampling error7
). 8e asD the question+ 3ow liDely is it that : could get my
observed sample result +ust "y chance, even if there=s
really no difference in the populationG
1. :f the liDelihood of your observed sample means
occurring by chance alone is less than *B 6.&* in
probability terms7, then we conclude that the null
hypothesis is wrong, we re+ect it, and we accept the
alternative hypothesis
Created by John eece !age ' of "# Created on "$%&'%(&") &*+))+&&
*. 8e conclude that there is a statistically significant
difference between the two groups.
4he value that we base our decision on is called the
significance level or p level.
:f the p level is less than .&*, then we re.ect the null
hypothesis.
&ignificance level+
4he probability that your observed results have
occurred by chance.
*ll statistical hypothesis tests generate a p level,
regardless of the type of research you are doing.
4his logic applies to all significance testing, regardless
of the area and regardless of the statistical test being
used.
t-tests 6independent and related%matched samples7
Used to answer the question+ :s there a
significant difference between two meansG
Correlation, r
significant relationship between two
variables?

2
Created by John eece !age "& of "# Created on "$%&'%(&") &*+))+&&
significant relationship between the CcountsE
associated with two variables.
0e,!nstratin' 0i""erences in 0esi'n
Three h&p!thetical in$i1i$-al $i""erence st-$ies
,' Does alcohol change people!s personality?
*& people are recruited for a study. 4hey are randomly
allocated to two conditions+ alcohol and placebo control.
4hey complete a standardised personality
questionnaire before consuming a beverage. 4hey then
consume a large amount of either alcohol or an inert
placebo control. 4wo hours later, they complete an
alternate form of the personality questionnaire.
-' *re )omen more .sensation see(ing/ than men?
*& men and *& women are administered a standardised
sensation-seeDing scale. 4he scores are compared.
0' hat is the relationship "et)een scores on a
standardised paper-and-pencil personality
questionnaire and the overt "ehavioural expression of
personality characteristics?
? large group of people are administered a
standardised personality questionnaire, such as the
>ysencD >!M. 4hen behavioural correlates of the
personality variables are measured. Jor example, for
Created by John eece !age "" of "# Created on "$%&'%(&") &*+))+&&
extraversion, the number of times each person
socialises at night is recorded. Jor neuroticism, the
number of times a person cries is recorded. 4he study
is investigating the nature of the relationship between
standardised measures of personality, and the
behavioural expression of those measures.
4he "
st
study is experimental+
2h&3
:t has an experimental group and a control group.
:t involves random allocation of participants to groups.
:t has clearly defined independent and dependent
variables.
4he levels of the independent variable are under the
control of the investigator.
2h& ha1e a c!ntr!l 'r!-p3
4he control group provides a baseline against which
we can assess the impact of the treatment on the
experimental group.
Control groups should be treated the same as the
experimental group in every way but the treatment.
:f we don=t have a control group, we can=t isolate the
effect of the treatment from the effect of other
influences 6sources of error that might compromise
the internal validity of the design7.
o @ources of error are any other factors that might
influence a participant=s score on the dependent
variable, apart "r!, the treat,ent%
Created by John eece !age "( of "# Created on "$%&'%(&") &*+))+&&
here Does the 1aria"ility Come $rom in an Experimental
Design?
8ithin-group variability
2etween-group variability
hat Causes Error in a 2esearch Design?
:ndividual differences
>xperimental error
hy randomly allocate?
2ecause it maximises the probability that other
influences 6called sources of error7 are randomly
spread among the groups.
Jor example, what if everyone in the treatment group
was over *& years old, and everyone in the control
group was under (*G Lr if everyone in the control
group was female and everyone in the experimental
group was male.
Fou wouldn=t be able to separate out the effect of the
treatment from the influence of age or sex. 4he
influence of the treatment would be said to be
confounded by the systematic error associated with age
or sex.
andom allocation maximises the probability that this
doesn=t happen.
3ndependent varia"le+ Hrouping variable. Under the
control of the investigator.
Dependent varia"le+ @core, outcome, or thing being
measured.
Created by John eece !age ") of "# Created on "$%&'%(&") &*+))+&&
Whats so great a!out e"peri#ental designs$
4hey are the only design that permits you to maDe
cause and effect statements about the relationship
between the independent and dependent variables.
9ery important in intervention research.
Ho) could this "e study have "een done differently?
>ach person could have participated in both phases of
the study
o epeated measures or within-sub.ects design.
!articipants could have been matched on personality
characteristics before being allocated to either the
experimental or control group
o Iatched samples design.
2oth of these designs reduce sources of error, and
therefore result in any treatment effect being more
noticeable 6error clouds treatment effects4 and is
something )e try to reduce7.
-
nd
&tudy
Muasi-experimental design.
Hroups are based on pre-existing characteristic of
the participants. ?ll sex difference studies are quasi-
experimental. @ome studies can only be done using a
quasi-experimental approach.
Cannot randomly allocate, because the participants
allocate themselves.
<ot as powerful as experimental designs, because
you cannot maDe cause and effect relationships.
Created by John eece !age "1 of "# Created on "$%&'%(&") &*+))+&&
?nalyse results in the same way as for an
experimental study.
0
rd
&tudy
Correlational 6non-experimental7
<o independent and dependent variables.
<o causal connection between the two variables can
be concluded.
C!rrelati!n 4 ca-sati!n%
?nalyse using correlation.
I#portant %ethodological Issues
Relia/ilit& an$ 5ali$it&
2elia"ility+ Does your measuring instrument generate
scores that are consistent, stable and dependable, or
is it prone to measurement errorG
>xample+ Jaulty Ditchen or bathroom scales
1alidity+ :s your personality scale measuring what it
claims to measureG
Four scale claims to be measuring extraversion. :s itG
Created by John eece !age "* of "# Created on "$%&'%(&") &*+))+&&
2o-2o doll experiment+
http+%%www.youtube.com%watchGv5FclN2hn1&hU
Children see, children do
http+%%www.youtube.com%watchGv5#Jf32(cruJU
!lacebo story on #& minutes
http+%%www.youtube.com%watchGv52D?f$HtUr,M
Created by John eece !age "# of "# Created on "$%&'%(&") &*+))+&&

OHTH 2160 Research in Health Sciences - Design and Hypothesis Testing

Transféré par

Informations du document

Titre original

Copyright

Formats disponibles

Partager ce document

Partager ou intégrer le document

Options de partage

Avez-vous trouvé ce document utile ?

Ce contenu est-il inapproprié ?

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

OHTH 2160 Research in Health Sciences - Design and Hypothesis Testing

Transféré par

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

Discipline of Psychology

School of Health Sciences

Vous aimerez peut-être aussi