Statistics Summary - Lectures & Exam questions
Week 36, Lecture 1, Chapter 1
Types of data analysis
● Quantitative methods
o Testing theories using numbers (e.g. on a scale)
● Qualitative methods
o Testing theories using language
➢ Interviews
➢ Conversations
➢ Newspapers
➢ Media broadcasting
Generating and testing theories
Theories
➢ a hypothesized general principle (or set of principles) that explains known findings
about a topic and from which new hypotheses can be generated
Hypothesis
➢ a testable prediction from a theory
Falsification
➢ the act of disproving a theory or hypothesis
Two hypotheses
1. Null hypothesis, H0
❏ Temptation Island participants and audience will, on average, not differ on
their scores on a personality test (=)
❏ OR: Temptation Island participants, on average, score similar or lower on a
personality test compared to the audience (≤)
2. Alternative hypothesis, H1
❏ Temptation Island participants and audience will, on average, differ on their
scores on a personality test (≠)
❏ Temptation Island participants will, on average, score higher than the
audience on a personality test (>)
● null hypothesis & alternative hypothesis: always mutually exclusive
● the null hypothesis always contains the “is equal” sign
Collecting Data Part 1: How to measure a final answer to the research question
1. Correlation research:
Advantage: Observing what naturally goes on in world without directly interfering with
it (without manipulating anything)
Disadvantage: statements about causation cannot be made
2. Experimental research:
One or more variable is systematically manipulated to see their effect on outcome
variable
Statements can be made about cause & effect
Week 36, Lecture 1, Chapter 1
Types of data analysis
● Quantitative methods
o Testing theories using numbers (e.g. on a scale)
● Qualitative methods
o Testing theories using language
➢ Interviews
➢ Conversations
➢ Newspapers
➢ Media broadcasting
Generating and testing theories
Theories
➢ a hypothesized general principle (or set of principles) that explains known findings
about a topic and from which new hypotheses can be generated
Hypothesis
➢ a testable prediction from a theory
Falsification
➢ the act of disproving a theory or hypothesis
Two hypotheses
1. Null hypothesis, H0
❏ Temptation Island participants and audience will, on average, not differ on
their scores on a personality test (=)
❏ OR: Temptation Island participants, on average, score similar or lower on a
personality test compared to the audience (≤)
2. Alternative hypothesis, H1
❏ Temptation Island participants and audience will, on average, differ on their
scores on a personality test (≠)
❏ Temptation Island participants will, on average, score higher than the
audience on a personality test (>)
● null hypothesis & alternative hypothesis: always mutually exclusive
● the null hypothesis always contains the “is equal” sign
Collecting Data Part 1: How to measure a final answer to the research question
1. Correlation research:
Advantage: Observing what naturally goes on in world without directly interfering with
it (without manipulating anything)
Disadvantage: statements about causation cannot be made
2. Experimental research:
One or more variable is systematically manipulated to see their effect on outcome
variable
Statements can be made about cause & effect
