Found Ed 203

(Research Statistics)
Module 3
On Relationships or Differences of
Variables and
Hypothesis testing
Objectives:
After studying the module, the students must be able to:
1. define/describe a research hypothesis.
2. describe the linear relationships of variable.
3. enumerate the steps in hypothesis testing; know by heart
the meanings of null and alternative hypotheses; degree of
freedom, level of significance, critical value, critical region,
and rejection of null hypothesis.
4. Know how to apply the simple t and z tests of hypothesis
The Hypothesis
Traditionally framed as a declarative sentence, hypothesis is an
operational distillation of a study’s purpose. A formally written
hypothesis has a number of merits. Among these are its ability;
1.) to delineate to the reader exactly what the comparison or
relationship is, that comprises the purpose of the study;
2.) to force the researcher to come to grips with exactly what is
being tested; and
3.) to realize that the study is really nothing more than a tool for
providing a simple “yes” or “no” answer to a relatively simple question.
 One very important characteristic of a hypothesis that should not
be taken for granted is that, it must be testable. It must specify a
relationship or difference to which a single probability (like 0.05) level
can be assigned.
Differences are usually assessed:
1.) between groups such as subjects who receive an
experimental treatment versus those who did not;
2.) between different types of people; for example males versus
females, Filipinos versus Japanese, etc. and;
3.) between different periods of time.
 These entities are compared on specific measures of some sort
such as scores on a test, perceptual or sensory reactions to a stimulus
and others.
Relationships on the other hand are assessed between measures
themselves. If they exist, they are either:
a.) Positive Linear relationship which reflects a situation in which a
person who scores high on measure x would be expected to score high
on a measure y;
b.) Negative Linear relationship which reflects a scenario in which
people who score high on one measure tend to score low on the other
measure, and vice versa;
 c.) Curvilinear relationship which reflects a situation wherein
measures are expected initially to bear a positive relationship. Then
following a leveling off period, these changes direction showing
negative relationship. An easy example is age and physical strength;
from childhood to adulthood physical strength increases, then to
advanced age, where physical strength decreases.
Now take a look at the following illustrations and where the
independent variable (x) moves to the right along the X-axis when the
variable increases or moves to the left when the variable decreases.
Likewise, the dependent variable (y), moves up along the Y-axis when
the variable increases or moves down when the variable decreases.
Positive Linear
X
Relationship x
x
x
x

An example for this is the pair of variables

Demand (x) and Supply (y). This means as
demand increases, supply correspondingly
increase.
 Negative Linear Relationship means Elasticity (Y)
as x increases, y decreases. An example
to this is length (x) and elasticity (y).
As you stretch a rubber band, it increases
its length but reduces its elasticity. This
means increasing the length of a rubber band
brings elasticity to zero until the 0
rubber band breaks. Length (X)
 Again we repeat here the description of
curvilinear relationship
c.) Curvilinear relationship which reflects a situation wherein measures
are expected initially to bear a positive relationship. Then following a leveling
off period, these changes direction showing negative relationship. An easy
example is the association between age and physical strength from childhood
to adulthood (leveling off period) up to advanced age, where physical
strength decreases.
Simply stated, a curvilinear relation is a type of relationship between
two variables where as one variable increases, so does the other variable, but
only up to a certain point, after which, as one variable continues to increase,
the other decreases. If you were to graph this kind of curvilinear relationship,
you will come up with an inverted-U. The other type of curvilinear
relationship, is one where as one variable increases, the other decreases up
to a certain point, after which, both variables increase together. This will give
you a U-shaped curve.
 An example of curvilinear
relationship is age (x) and
physical strength (y). Y (Physical Strength)

X (Age)
• Here are examples of relationships between two variables:
1. On positive linear relationships:
a. Age and weight
b. Height and weight
c. Experience and work skills
d. Supply and Demand
e. Educational Qualification and Academic Rank
f. Intelligence Quotient and Comprehensive Skills
2. On Negative Relationship
a. Length and Elasticity of a rubber band
b. Prevalence of COVID-19 and Business establishments
c. Number of COVID patients and Number of Hospital beds
d. Number of online users and Network Signal
e. Number of uploaded files and Computer Efficiency
 3. Curvilinear Relationship
a. Age and Physical Strength (given earlier)
b. Age and Productivity
c. Staff cheerfulness and customer satisfaction

Now we go back to hypothesis testing. As we continue, we take

a look at the source of a hypothesis.
A hypothesis therefore is an answer to
research questions such as:
Is there a significant relationship between educational attainment
and success in teaching ?
Is there a significant difference in the learnings of students who
are frequently on line versus those who are not frequently on line
?
Your answer to each of these is a simple yes or no answer but
you have to prove it scientifically by “hypothesizing” and eventually
testing it. Your null hypotheses are as follows:
H˳: There is no significant relationship between educational
attainment and success in teaching.
•
 And so going back to test of hypothesis, we have to consider two
types. These are the parametric tests and the non-parametric tests.
Some tests are as follows:
1. Parametric tests:
a. t-test; z test; F test or ANOVA, etc.
2. Nonparametric tests:
a. Chi-square; Sign test; Sign test; Wilcoxon test; Kruskal
Wallis test; Mann Whitney µ; Mc Nemar test; Runs test; Friedman
test to name a few.
 Here are the steps in testing hypothesis:

•
PARAMETRIC TESTS
Difference in Means
Comparing Two Sets of Observations Using the t test

1. One type compares an observed mean

from a sample of observations to a
hypothetical population mean. This is
often called a One-sample mean test.
 A hypothetical example: A researcher wanted to
determine whether 70 the mean achievement score, with a
standard deviation of 3.14 of a 200-representative sample of
grade ten students in a Cebu City high school is at par with the
expected mean of 80 in the entrance test for senior high. He
wanted to show that the group mean is not significantly lower
than 80, the population mean.
•
•
 Decision: The t value is 45.038. This computed value is greater than the critical value (CV)
of 1.645 at 0.05 level of significance. Hence we reject the null hypothesis that the mean of
70 is less than 80. Hence the mean achievement of the students is at par with the standard
set.
Notes: 1. The Null Hypothesis H˳ is expected to be rejected.
2. The Alternative Hypothesis H₁ is actually the research
hypotheses. It is intended to be accepted.
3. The computed value has to be greater than the critical value, CV.
4. A bigger computed t means it is within the critical region in the normal
curve. The critical region is the rejection region. The CV cuts off a region of the
normal curve creating a region below the curve called the critical region.
•
Difference in Proportions

•
The critical values of z are shown in the table below with Test Type
and Level of Significance:

TEST TYPE 0.05 0.01

One-tailed 1.645 2.330

Two-tailed 1.960 2.575

Sample problem:
•
•
•
 References:
1. The International Statistical Institute, (2003). " The Oxford Dictionary of
Statistical Terms". edited by Yadolah Dodge, Oxford University Press.
2. International Encyclopedia of Statistical Science. (2014) "Sample Survey
Methods", edited by Miodrag Lovric. .
3.. Malec, M.A. (1993). Essential Statistics for Social Research. Colorado:
Westview Press, Inc.
4. Pino, A.P.Jr. (2010). Research Statistics. Cebu City: Krest Pub Hse.
5. Slavin, R.E. (1984). Research Methods in Education, A Practical Guide.
New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
6. Verney,M.et.al. 2002. Behavioral Statistics in Action. 3rd Ed. Boston:
McGraw Hill Cos., Inc.
.