LIFESCI 2D03 Study Guide - Final Guide: Null Hypothesis, Research Question

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Life Sciences
• Course: LIFESCI 2D03
• Professor: Ayesha Khan

Document Summary

Descriptive: to develop description of the phenomenon. Correlational: is there an association (aka relationship) between two variables? (variables are very genetic) Sample - a small # taken from that population. Hypothesis = explanation (that leads to a testable prediction). A prediction takes that explanation (hypothesis) and rewords it so that we can make it testable. Research hypotheses are evaluated using two statistical hypotheses reflecting two possible outcomes. Alternate hypothesis (ha): the proposed explanation for the observation does have a significant effect (statistical difference) Null hypothesis (no statistical hypothesis): the proposed explanation for the observation does not have a significant effect. Thus, we use the word support instead of prove. Probability tells us how likely are they due to error/chance. One variable is the number of earthworms (x variable) Other variable is the number of robins that appear/go to that particular yard (y variable) Thus, we can"t say proved for hypothesis, we always say support.