Week 2 Hypothesis Structuring (Textbooks)

Question 1

How does Andy Field define a hypothesis?

Answer 1

*A hypothesis is a prediction about the state of the world

Question 2

How does Andy Field define the Experimental Hypothesis?

Answer 2

• a synonym for the alternative hypothesis

Question 3

How does Andy Field define the Alternative Hypothesis?

Answer 3

• The prediction that there will be an effect
• i.e. that my experimental manipulation will have some effect or
• that certain variables will be related to each other

Question 4

How does Andy Field define the Null Hypothesis?

Answer 4

• the reverse of the experimental hypothesis

* that my prediction is wrong and the predicted effect does not exist

Question 5

Why do we need a null hypothesis?

Answer 5

• we need a null hypothesis because we cannot prove the experimental hypothesis using statistics, but we can reject the null hypothesis
• If our data gives us confidence to reject the null hypothesis, then this provides support for our experimental hypothesis

Question 6

What does Andy Field tell me about directional hypothesis?

Answer 6

• Hypothesis can be directional or non-directional

* A directional hypothesis states that an effect will occur, but it also states the direct of the effect

Question 7

What do inferential statistics tell me according to Andy Field?

Answer 7

• Inferential statistics helps to confirm or reject my predictions,
• telling me whether the experimental hypothesis is likely to be true

Question 8

Why does Fisher recommend 95% as a useful confidence threshold?

Answer 8

• only when I am 95% certain that a result is genuine (i.e. not chance) should I accept it to be true
• therefore, if there is only a 5% probability (.05) of something occurring by chance, then we can accept this as a genuine effect

Question 9

How does including effect sizes with significance levels of 0.05 help interpretation of results?

Answer 9

The use of effect sizes strikes a balance between using arbitrary cut-offs (.01, .05) for significance and assessing whether an effect is meaningful within the research context