Use the preparation materials to prepare hand-written answers for the following questions. Please ask any questions on the "Questions -- Preparation Guide" on the course Team (see link on the homepage.)
  1. Describe each step of the scientific method.
  2. Define research and statistical hypotheses. [Primarily, make sure you can describe how they differ.]
  3. Which statistical hypothesis always represents the “no difference” situation?
  4. What mathematical comparisons symbols can appear in each of the two statistical hypotheses?
  5. What abbreviations are used to represent the two statistical hypotheses?
  6. What is the difference between a one- and two-tailed alternative hypothesis?
  7. What is the definition of a p-value?
  8. What is a null distribution?
  9. What is α?
  10. What are the most typical values of α?
  11. How are the p-value and α used to make a decision about the null hypothesis? What decisions can be made and why?
  12. What are the specifics for the five steps that I suggest for calculating a p-value?
  13. Why do statisticians “not reject” rather than “accept” the null hypothesis.
  14. What questions do you have from this reading that you would like me to address? [Please be as specific as possible. Don’t just say “everything” or “I don’t understand anything.” Of course, you can ask questions about the reading before class on MS Teams (see link above).]