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Types of descriptive research methods
Discussion of descriptive statistics
Descriptive Statistics and Inferential Statistics
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Read Part G, Topics 47-61 and Part H, Topics 62-67 in our textbook.
Post a reading report on this discussion board forum answering the following questions:
1. What are the differences between descriptive and inferential statistics?
Descriptive stats summarize data so the data can be comprehended. The researchers prepare a frequency distribution which shows the frequencies as descriptive statistics. Percentages, and averages are also descriptive statistics. Therefore, the descriptive statistics describe sets of data collected through observation. Then the statistics are organized in tables, pie charts, graphs etc. Researchers must be sure the kind of descriptive statistics matches the kind of data that has been collected. Influential statistics is when, due to the size of the
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What is the null hypothesis? Why is the null hypothesis important?
A null hypothesis is when samples are taken in inferential statistics but those samples are unrepresentative because of random sampling errors. This can happen in three ways: 1. The observed difference was created by sampling errors, keeping in mind there is no bias because the survey is done randomly. 2. Null hypothesis also occurs when there is no true difference between the two groups. This meaning that the true difference is the difference a researcher would find if there were no sampling errors. 3. The true difference between the two groups is zero.
The null hypothesis is important to determine if there is a difference between the groups being tested or not. If the null hypothesis was not present, the number of possibilities would make it impossible to test. Also at the beginning of the research the null hypothesis can make the research more objectively based and play a key role in the statistical analysis as results become available. Ultimately, then, with the degree of the null hypothesis and its probability (p) it can be determined rather it is rejected in lieu of alternative hypothesis (Patten,
Within the target site of the experiment, researchers wanted to answer their hypothesis; hypothesis was that increased police
For this experiment the null hypothesis is that the intensity of the step rate test (High and Low) has no effect on the persons’ heart rate and recovery time. While the alternate hypothesis is that the intensity of the step rate test (High and Low) has an effect on the persons’ heart rate and recovery time.
For this statistical inference, the question was whether the means were truly different or could they have been samples from the same population. To do draw a conclusion, we must first assume normal distribution. We must also set the null hypothesis to m1 - m2 = 0. And per this assignment we must set the a-level at .05 and the hypothesis alternative to m1 - m2 ¹ 0; thus requiring a two-tailed test.
The test of significance is designed to assess the strength of the data against the null hypothesis. A test of significance assesses this in terms of probability. In this study our null hypothesis or H0 states that the percentage of nuts for all 52g candy bars is equal to the percentage for all 96g candy bars.
Inferential statistics establish the methods for the analyses used for conclusions drawing conclusions beyond the immediate data alone concerning an experiment or study for a population built on general conditions or data collected from a sample (Jackson, 2012; Trochim & Donnelly, 2008). With inferential statistics, you are trying to reach conclusions that extend beyond the immediate data alone. For instance, we use inferential statistics to try to infer from the sample data what the population might think. A requisite for developing inferential statistics supports general linear models for sampling distribution of the outcome statistic; researchers use the related inferential statistics to determine confidence (Hopkins, Marshall, Batterham, & Hanin, 2009).
Although the intended hypothesis was not determined by the researcher in this study, I would determine it to be a null hypothesis as nurse-patient interactions (independent variable) have no effect on diabetes related outcomes (dependent variable). The alternative hypothesis would then reject the null hypothesis by stating that nurse-patient interactions do affect diabetic related outcomes. We use the nurse-patient interaction as the independent va...
...ethods of research, mainly used in sociology and literature. Hypothesis on the other hand can be classified under scientific research, mostly employed in mathematics and science (Hoskins, 1998). We can also identify the third difference based on the structure. Here, hypothesis statements are always displayed in form of statements while research questions are always displayed in form of questions.
...to ensure results are a true representation of participant opinion. The researcher to share a clear account of the methods, data collection and analysis used in the study.
This study will focus on the issue of obesity among people. Obesity is one of the prominent issues that the society is facing due to the insufficient information that people have regarding the amount of food intake as well as how people ought to balance their diet. It seems that the problem of obesity is not only experienced in one country but in different countries and this does not only choose certain gender and age but a person who suffers obesity could be an adult or a child, female or male.
We begin by stating the hypothesis. In stating the null hypothesis we state a value of the population that we consider to be true which is known as the null hypothesis. In hypothesis testing the presumption is that the claim we are testing is true. The decision is made by determining whether the assumption is true. The reason for testing the null hypothesis is because we think it could be wrong. We state what we believe is wrong about the null hypothesis in an alternate hypothesis (Ning- Zhong Shi, Jian Tao,2008) The alternative hypothesis contradicts the null hypothesis by stating that the real value of a population parameter is less than, greater than or unequal to the value stated in the null hypothesis. We then set the criteria for the decision, by stating the level of significance. This refers to the criteria upon which judgment is made. If the null hypothesis falls within the accepted level of significance then we accept the null hypothesis and reject the alternate. The third step is computing the test statistic that enables the researcher to determine the probability of obtaining sample outcomes if the null hypothesis is true. The test static is used to make the decision regarding the null hypothesis. The last step is making the decision. The value of the statistic guides on making the decision about the null hypothesis. Null hypothesis is accepted if the sample mean has a high probability of occurring when the null hypothesis is true. If the sample mean has a low probability of occurring when the null hypothesis is true, we reject the null
An example of a null hypothesis for the variables used in this data collection would be, “Does GPA predicts final exam scores? An alternative hypothesis would be that GPA scores do determine the exam scores.
In this case, the claim does not have an equality condition. We express the null hypothesis as H0: The number of homes that use solar energy in the state is 25%. In symbolic form, we express the null hypothesis as H0: p = 25%.
My null hypothesis is that there is no statistical difference in the ability of each treatment to relieve pain in an affected dog. My alternate hypothesis is that there is a statistical difference in the ability of each treatment to relieve pain in an affected dog. I conducted an unpaired t-test to determine if there is a statistically significant difference in the mean length of medication use of the two treatments groups. This test is appropriate because I want to know whether the two population group means are different. I used degrees of freedom of 31 for this test because my total sample size was 33. There are three assumptions that have to be made to be able to use this test. The first is that the data in this study are independent
Quantitative research uses a deductive reasoning also known as top to bottom or (top down approach) starting with a theory, then the hypothesis, followed by observation and finally confirmation , going from the general to the more specific. Quantitative methods use numbers and statistics to show the results of the research exercise and mainly are concerned with mathematics and statistics. In quantitative research there are levels of measurement being firstly nominal which are names of things followed by ordinal sequence of things, interval where the sequence has equal distance between each item, and ratio where there is a true zero (Alston & Bowles, 2003, p. 7-9).
...en young adults who attend college and those who do not attend and their levels of stress were all looked at. To examine this, participants were given a survey revealing about what is happening in their lives and asking questions on stress. A simple T-test was used to examine the data and it was a between-subject design. It was hypothesized that young adults who attend college experience more stress than young adults who do not attend college. The null hypothesis would be that both groups of young adults experience the same amount of stress. Lastly, my hypothesis could be wrong if it was discovered that young adults who are not in college experience more stress than young adults that to go to college. In this experiment, economic backgrounds of the participants were not looking into, so that could be a variable that could possibly change the outcome of the research.