Chapter 7 Overview of Statistical Hypothesis Testing: The z-test

Overview of Statistical Hypothesis Testing Definitions

Inferential Statistics: Procedures for deciding whether sample data represent a particular relationship in a population. Used for deciding whether the sample mean is representative of the population. a.k.a. hypothesis testing procedures Parametric Statistics: Inferential procedures that require assumptions about the parameters of the raw score populations the data represent. They are performed when it is appropriate to compute the mean. Nonparametric Statistics: Inferential procedures that do not require assumptions about the parameters of the raw score population. Appropriate when the median or the mode is the best measure of central tendency.

Overview of Statistical Hypothesis Testing Definitions

There are many different hypothesis testing procedures, using one versus another will be based on the exact situation we find ourselves in.
Today we will learn the z-test. The appropriate parametric statistical procedure when there is one sample that is being compared to a population with a known mean (m) and standard deviation (s).

Overview of Statistical Hypothesis Testing

Hypothesis testing is an inferential statistical procedure that takes information from a sample to evaluate hypotheses about a population. Hypothesis testing usually begins with a population with an unknown mean. Often, in hypothesis testing, a treatment is added to a population with a known mean which changes the mean in some unknown way. If an effect occurs, it is to add or subtract a constant to the mean. As an example, perhaps we know the mean GRE score, however, we implement a class that is thought to change GRE scores. The population of GRE scores has a known mean, however the mean of the population of scores after the implementation of the class is unknown.

Overview of Statistical Hypothesis Testing Four Steps

Hypothesis testing involves a four step procedure: 1. Stating the hypotheses 2. Setting the criteria for a decision 3. Collecting sample data 4. Evaluating the null hypothesis

Overview of Statistical Hypothesis Testing Four Steps Step 1

1. Stating the Hypotheses There are always two hypotheses formed when doing hypothesis testing. They are called the null and alternative hypotheses. The null hypothesis (H0) states that nothing occurs. Implementing a treatment does not change peoples scores. No difference between the means of the treated and untreated populations. The alternative hypothesis (Ha) states that the treatment does have an effect. Implementing a treatment does change peoples scores. The mean of the treated population is different from the mean of the untreated population.

Overview of Statistical Hypothesis Testing Four Steps Step 1

1. Stating the Hypotheses In numerical terms:

H0: mtreated = muntreated Ha: mtreated muntreated

Together, these two hypotheses must account for every possible thing that could occur. In this case, either the means are equal or they are not equal. Every possible outcome is covered.

Overview of Statistical Hypothesis Testing Four Steps Step 1 1. Stating the Hypotheses Hypotheses can be directional or nondirectional. The hypotheses weve just written are nondirectional in that they dont predict what the treatment is going to do, increase or decrease performance. These hypotheses will simply test whether the treated and untreated means are different. If you have a reason to believe what effect the treatment is going to have, you should use directional hypotheses.

Overview of Statistical Hypothesis Testing Four Steps Step 1

For example, youve created a class that you think will improve GRE scores. Your hypotheses will then read:

H0: mtreated muntreated Ha: mtreated > muntreated

The null covers the possibilities that either nothing happened, or the opposite of what I expected happened. Together these hypotheses cover every possible outcome that could occur.

Overview of Statistical Hypothesis Testing Four Steps Step 2

2. Setting the Criteria for a Decision Before we can discuss setting a criteria for decision we need to review a little bit. Remember, the shape of the distribution of sample means depends on the s of the original population as well as the sample size (n). Our basic job with hypothesis testing is to look at the original distribution of sample means, and then determine if the treated sample comes from the original distribution of sample means or if it comes from a different distribution of sample means.

Overview of Statistical Hypothesis Testing Four Steps Step 2

If I have a distribution of SAT scores, then I can create a distribution of sample means for sample size n. We must locate our sample of scores after taking the class within this distribution. If the probability of this sample being drawn from the original sample distribution of means is very low, then perhaps it didnt come from this sampling distribution. Perhaps, it is more logical to conclude that the sample came from a different sampling distribution of means.

Overview of Statistical Hypothesis Testing Four Steps Step 2

2. Setting the Criteria for a Decision Our job when setting the criteria for decisions is to determine what we feel is a very low probability. This Very low probability is called a and is often set at .05 or .01 by convention.

For problems given in the text or on tests, a is given to you.

Stated in words, if the probability of obtaining a sample mean from the original distribution of sample means is less than a, then we will conclude that the sample came from a different distribution of sample means. a is also known as the region of rejection. That is, if our sample mean falls in this region, we will reject the null hypothesis which states that there is no difference between the means of the treated and untreated population.

Overview of Statistical Hypothesis Testing Four Steps Step 2

2. Setting the Criteria for a Decision At this stage of hypothesis testing we must decide what z-scores correspond to this region of rejection. Pretend that we were working on the GRE score problem. We want to know the z-scores associated with an unlikely outcome. If we were told that a = .05, then we would need to find the z-score beyond which 5% of the distribution lies. Looking in Table B.1, we find that at a z-score of +1.65, 5% of the scores fall in the tail. If we had been told that a = .01, then a z-score of +2.33 would be needed.

Overview of Statistical Hypothesis Testing Four Steps Step 2

2. Setting the Criteria for a Decision If we were using nondirectional hypotheses, we would need to split the region of rejection into both tails. That is, when using nondirectional hypotheses, an extreme sample mean in either direction would be important. If we were using nondirectional hypotheses, and a was set at .05, then we would have two critical z-score values. If the z-score from the sample was greater than 1.96 or less than -1.96 then it would fall into the most extreme 5%, 2.5% in each end. Likewise, if a=.01 for nondirectional hypotheses, then the critical z-scores would be +2.58 and -2.58, these separate the most extreme 1%, % in each tail.

Overview of Statistical Hypothesis Testing Four Steps Step 3

3. Collecting Sample Data

This step of hypothesis testing is pretty easy for now. We simply need to figure out the mean of our treated sample and the standard error of the mean. Once we have these, then we will plug them into the z-score formula along with the original population mean. This is the step where the procedure will be different for each of the different inferential procedures we will learn.

Overview of Statistical Hypothesis Testing Four Steps Step 4

4. Evaluating the Null Hypothesis (H0) Using the information we have, we will evaluate the merits of our hypotheses. Does the z-score from the treated sample fall in the region of rejection. If so, then we would reject H0 and conclude that the treatment did have an effect. If not, then we would fail to reject H0 and conclude that the evidence does not support the idea that the treatment had an effect.

Statistical Hypothesis Testing z-test Example

I am a dog food manufacturer, I have created new Super Vitamin Enriched Puppy Chow, specially designed for the active and growing Doberman Pincer. I want to run a commercial advertising the effectiveness of my food. I know that the average weight (m) of adult Dobermans is 35.8 kg (s = 6.2 kg) I took a sample of 10 Doberman puppies and fed them nothing but my Super Vitamin Enriched Puppy Chow. When these dogs reached adulthood, they weighed 39.7 kg on average (M). Did my Puppy Chow make them grow especially big, test with a = .05?

Statistical Hypothesis Testing z-test Example Step 1 State the Hypotheses

H0: The puppy chow did not make the dogs grow any more than normal. Ha: The puppy chow did make the dogs grow larger then normal H0: mchow mall Ha: mchow > mall Notice that this is a one-tailed test, I predict that the Chow will make the dogs grow, not shrink.

Statistical Hypothesis Testing z-test Example Step 2 Setting the Criteria for Decision

A very unlikely sample in this case is one which occurs less than 5% of the time by random chance. Looking in Table 1, we find that the z-score which sets off the top 5% of the distribution is 1.645. Therefore, zcrit = +1.645 This value defines my region of rejection. If my zobt falls anywhere in this region of rejection, then we will reject H0.

Statistical Hypothesis Testing z-test Example Step 3 Collecting Sample Data

6.2 sX 1.961 n 10
zobt X m

sX

39.7 35.8 1.99 1.961

Statistical Hypothesis Testing z-test Example Step 4 Evaluating the Null Hypothesis

zobt > zcrit The zobt falls in the region of rejection. We will reject H0 and conclude that the Super Vitamin Enriched Puppy Chow makes Doberman Pincers grow significantly larger. I can safely go ahead with my advertising campaign!