Research Methods 2

Week 9: Asking questions: an introduction to hypothesis tests

Aims

To understand the difficulty of answering questions on the basis of sample data and to understand how hypothesis tests address this problem

To know what a null hypothesis is.

To understand what a P-value is and the principles behind its calculation.

To be able to interpret a given P value
 

This week there is only one document to be studied and one exercise sheet.  This week you will be introduced to the key ideas behind hypothesis or significance tests.  The emphasis will be on understanding what a P-value means and how it addresses a useful question.  There is no intention to introduce the methods used in practice to calculate P values

• Go to the Learning Materials folder and study the document Asking questions: an introduction to hypothesis tests, which explains the ideas behind hypothesis tests.
• In the Formative Assessment Activities folder, attempt the questions in Exercise Sheet 1.
• Also in the Formative Assessment Activities folder you should check your answers by referring to the Solutions to Exercise Sheet 1.