five steps of hypothesis testing
#11. List the five steps of hypothesis testing, and explain the procedure and logic of each.
#14. Based on the information given for each of the following studies, decide whether to reject the null hypothesis. For each, give (a) the Z-score cutoff (or
cutoffs) on the comparison distribution at which the null hypothesis should be
rejected, (b) the Z score on the comparison distribution for the sample score, and
(c) your conclusion. Assume that all populations are normally distributed.
#18. A researcher predicts that listening to music while solving math problems will make a particular brain area more active. To test this, a research participant has her brain scanned while listening to music and solving math problems, and the
brain area of interest has a percentage signal change of 58. From many previous
studies with this same math problems procedure (but not listening to music), it is
known that the signal change in this brain area is normally distributed with a
mean of 35 and a standard deviation of 10. (a) Using the .01 level, what should
the researcher conclude? Solve this problem explicitly using all five steps of hypothesis testing, and illustrate your answer with a sketch showing the comparison distribution, the cutoff (or cutoffs), and the score of the sample on this distribution. (b) Then explain your answer to someone who has never had a course in statistics (but who is familiar with mean, standard deviation, and Z scores).
