Chapter 7: Statistical Issues in Research planning and Evaluation SFM 651: Research Methods Dr. Johnson
Probability The odds a certain event will occur Relative frequency – getting it close Coin toss – 50-50 Actuality – 52-48 or 51-49
Alpha α Level of probability set by the experimenter before the study Also called level of significance Usually .05 or .01 Findings due to chance 5% or 1% of the time.
Beta β Magnitude of type II error Acceptance of the Null hypothesis when it is false When Alpha is lower, Beta gets higher.
Meaningfulness Importance of significance of the effect Effect size Difference between means divided by Standard deviation
Power Probability of making the correct decision Reject Null Hypothesis when it is false. The greater the power, the more likely it is that you will see a difference.
Ways to obtain more power Increase sample size # of participants Becomes easier to know what will actually happen with more samples.