Hypothesis Testing and Two-Group t Tests

Now that you have run descriptive statistics with your data, it is time to create a hypothesis and test your hypothesis. This part of the Statistics Project will take you through the process of creating and testing your hypothesis through statistical methods, using Microsoft® Excel®. Creating hypotheses provides you the opportunity to think like a researcher and help you understand and critique research articles you read.

Create a hypothesis for the Happiness and Engagement Dataset from Part 1 of the Statistics Project. Your hypothesis can be anything based on the variables you have in your dataset. One example: Teaching Method X provides higher test scores than Teaching Method Y.

Create a null hypothesis. (Example: Teaching Method X scores are equal to Teaching Method Y scores.)

State your null and alternate hypotheses.

Identify and justify which type of statistical analysis will be appropriate for this data.

Review the steps beginning on pp. 202 in Statistics Plain and Simple describing how to run an independent samples t test.

Run an independent samples t test on the data in your dataset.

Write a 125- to 175-word summary of your interpretation of the results of the t test, and copy and paste your Microsoft® Excel® output below the summary.