EME 003:

RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
ENGR. KRISTINE P. ORTEGA
PARAMETRIC
TESTS

INFERENTIAL STATISTICS
consists of generalizing from samples
to populations, performing
estimations and hypothesis tests,
determining relationships among
variables, and making predictions
statistician tries to make inferences
from samples to populations

INFERENTIAL STATISTICS

Hypothesis testing is a decisionmaking process for evaluating claims

about a population, based on
information obtained from samples.
Steps:
1. State the hypotheses and identify the claim.
2. Find the critical value(s) from the
appropriate table based on the test to be
used.
3. Compute the test value.
4. Make the decision to reject or not reject the
null hypothesis.

INFERENTIAL STATISTICS
Statistical hypothesis is a
conjecture about a population
parameter and this conjecture may
or may not be true.
Null hypothesis, H0, states that there
is no difference between a parameter
and a specific value, or between two
parameters.
Alternative hypothesis (research
hypothesis), H1, is a statistical
hypothesis that states the existence of a

INFERENTIAL STATISTICS
between a parameter and a specific
value, or between two parameters.
Examples:
1. A medical researcher is interested in
finding out whether a new medication will
have any undesirable side effects. The
researcher is particularly concerned with
the pulse rate of the patients who take the
medication. Will the pulse rate increase,
decrease, or remain unchanged after a
patient takes the medication? The mean
pulse rate for the population under study is
82 beats per minute.

INFERENTIAL STATISTICS
2. A chemist invents an additive to increase
the life of an automobile battery. The mean
lifetime of the automobile battery without
the additive is 36 months.
3. A contractor wishes to lower heating bills
by using a special type of insulation in
houses. The average of the monthly
heating bills is $78.

INFERENTIAL STATISTICS
Statistical test uses the data
obtained from a sample to make a
decision about whether the null
hypothesis should be rejected.
Numerical value
obtained from a
statistical test is
called the test value.

INFERENTIAL STATISTICS
Level of significance is the
maximum probability of committing
a type I error and is symbolized by .
Three arbitrary significance levels: the
0.10, 0.05, and 0.01 levels.

Critical value separates the critical

region from the noncritical region
and symbolizes by CV.

INFERENTIAL STATISTICS
Critical or rejection region is the
range of values of the test value that
indicates that there is a significant
difference and that the null hypothesis
should be rejected.
Noncritical or nonrejection region is
the range of values of the test value
that indicates that the difference was
probably due to chance and that the null
hypothesis should not be rejected.

INFERENTIAL STATISTICS
A one-tailed test indicates that the null
hypothesis should be rejected when the test
value is in the critical region on one side of
the mean. A one-tailed test is either a righttailed test or left-tailed test, depending on
the direction of the inequality of the
alternative hypothesis.
In a two-tailed test, the null hypothesis
should be rejected when the test value is in
either of the two critical regions.

PARAMETRIC TEST
One that makes assumptions about
the parameters (defining properties)
of the population distribution(s) from
which one's data are drawn.
Referring to tests, such as t-tests and
the analysis of variance, that assume
the underlying source population(s)
to be normally distributed; they
generally also assume that one's
measures derive from an equal-

T-TEST
It is used when the population
standard deviation is unknown.
Similarity of t distribution to the
standard normal distribution:
It is bell-shaped.
It is symmetric about the mean.
The mean, median, and mode are equal
to 0 and are located at the center of the
distribution.
The curve never touches the x axis.

T-TEST
Difference of t distribution to the
standard normal distribution:
The variance is greater than 1.
The t distribution is a family of curves
based on the degrees of freedom, which
is a number related to sample size.
As the sample size increases, the t
distribution approaches the normal
distribution.

T-TEST
A

statistical test for the mean of a

population and is used when the
population is normally or
approximately normally distributed,
is unknown.
Formula for the t test

T-TEST
Examples:
1. A medical investigation claims that the
average number of infections per week
at a hospital in southwestern
Pennsylvania is 16.3. A random sample
of 10 weeks had a mean number of
17.7 infections. The sample standard
deviation is 1.8. Is there enough
evidence to reject the investigators
claim at a = 0.05?

T-TEST
2. An educator claims that the average
salary of substitute teachers in school
districts in Allegheny County,
Pennsylvania, is less than $60 per day.
A random sample of eight school
districts is selected, and the daily
salaries (in dollars) are shown. Is there
enough evidence to support the
educators claim at a = 0.10? 60 56 60
55 70 55 60 55

T-TEST
3. A physician claims that joggers
maximal volume oxygen uptake is
greater than the average of all adults.
A sample of 15 joggers has a mean of
40.6 milliliters per kilogram (ml/kg) and
a standard deviation of 6 ml/kg. If the
average of all adults is 36.7 ml/kg, is
there enough evidence to support the
physicians claim at a = 0.05?

T-TEST
Confidence

interval of the mean

Examples:
1. A researcher claims that adult hogs fed
a special diet will have an average
weight of 200 pounds. A sample of 10
hogs has an average weight of 198.2
pounds and a standard deviation of 3.3
pounds. At a = 0.05, can the claim be
rejected? Also, find the 95% confidence
interval of the true mean.

T-TEST
Testing

the Difference Between

Two Means of Independent
Samples
Formula for the t test for testing the
difference between two means
independent samples where variances
are assumed to be unequal:

T-TEST
Examples:
1. The average size of a farm in Indiana
County, Pennsylvania, is 191 acres. The
average size of a farm in Greene County,
Pennsylvania, is 199 acres. Assume the
data were obtained from two samples with
standard deviations of 38 and 12 acres,
respectively, and sample sizes of 8 and 10,
respectively. Can it be concluded at a =
0.05 that the average size of the farms in
the two counties is different? Assume the
populations are normally distributed.

T-TEST
Confidence Intervals for the

Difference of Two Means:

Independent Samples where
variances are assumed to be
unequal:

T-TEST
Examples:
1. Find the 95% confidence interval for the
data in the previous example.
2. A real estate agent wishes to determine
whether tax assessors and real estate
appraisers agree on the values of homes. A
random sample of the two groups
appraised 10 homes. The data are shown
here. Is there a significant difference in the
values of the homes for each group? Let a
0.05. Find the 95% confidence interval for
the difference of the means.

T-TEST
When the variances are assumed to

be equal, this formula is:

T-TEST
Testing

the Difference Between Two

Means: Dependent Samples
Samples are considered to be
dependent samples when the subjects
are paired or matched in some way.
Procedures for finding the test value:
1. Find the differences of the values of the
pairs of data.

T-TEST

2. Find the mean of the differences.

3. Find the standard deviation SD of the
differences.
4. Find the estimated standard error of the
differences.

T-TEST

5. Find the test value.

T-TEST
Examples:
1. A physical education director claims by
taking a special vitamin, a weight lifter can
increase his strength. Eight athletes are
selected and given a test of strength, using
the standard bench press. After 2 weeks of
regular training, supplemented with the
vitamin, they are tested again. Test the
effectiveness of the vitamin regimen at a
0.05. Each value in these data represents
the maximum number of pounds the athlete
can bench-press. Assume that the variable is
approximately normally distributed.

T-TEST
Examples:
2. A dietitian wishes to see if a persons
cholesterol level will change if the diet is
supplemented by a certain mineral. Six
subjects were pretested, and then they
took the mineral supplement for a 6-week
period. The results are shown in the table.
(Cholesterol level is measured in
milligrams per deciliter.) Can it be
concluded that the cholesterol level has
been changed at a = 0.10? Assume the
variable is approximately normally
distributed.

T-TEST
Confidence Interval for the Mean

Difference
Example:
1. Find the 90% confidence interval for the
data in the last example.