Week 4 Discussions
July 2nd, 2013 QNT/351 In this week’s discussion, Team C was given three subjects to talk about. The subjects were all closely related and depend upon each other to insure relevancy. The subjects discussed by our team include the following:
The steps in testing a research hypothesis *
Comparing the means of two or more groups *
Calculating the correlation between two variables * * Along with discussing the aforementioned topics, we were also given the task of highlighting both the aspects that were most understood and the most problematic issues contained within the three subjects. This body of work should serve as a summary of those highlighted parts discussed. * As stated earlier, the first topic we discussed was the steps in testing a research hypothesis. Everyone in Team C seemed to have a firm grasp of this concept. We broke down all the essential steps of testing a hypothesis and discussed them thoroughly. Beginning with the forming of a research question (or research hypothesis) and ending with the conclusion of your study and how to summarize your research. We did, however, spend a significant amount of time discussing the concept of the observed significance level (OSL), otherwise known as the P-Value. After much discussion and, we came to a general consensus that lower P-values are usually a strong indication not in favor of the null hypothesis. This hint helped our group to fully understand how p-values can be found and interpreted. Out of all the topics discussed, this one can be easily applied to everyday work. If I generated a research hypothesis that advertising was related to higher sales, then companies with high sales must have National ad campaigns ("Generating A Research Hypothesis", 2001). Testing this hypothesis can be easy after following the steps discussed by our team. * * We also took time to discuss how to compare the means of two or more groups. This discussion took the most time out of all three subjects. The reason being was there were several steps that had to be mentioned in order to perform this operation successfully. It was vital that our team discuss the analysis of variance (ANOVA) procedure and how it allows one to check if the means of the multiple groups are significantly different from each other by calculating their variances. Our group seemed to all grasp this concept, thus, we moved on to the next subject. * The final topic of our discussion was how to calculate the correlation between two variables. We discussed how when there are correlations between two variables, both variables will change simultaneously. The example we used in our discussions were the correlation between an individual’s marital status and their children’s sexuality ("How To Calculate Correlation Between Variables", 2013). We discussed the steps to successfully calculate correlations such as these and more. However, one aspect of this topic that did receive extra attention was the calculations of the correlation’s coefficient. After brief deliberation we were able to get on one accord. * In conclusion, this discussion was very helpful for our entire team. We were able to discuss both topics that were understood and problematic. Discussions such as these will enable us to progress through our lab questions, comprehend our weekly readings, and apply in our every day task in an effort to make life easier to understand. Research hypothesis, comparing the means of two or more groups, and calculating the correlation between two variables can all be applied to our fields in some way. Figuring out how should become easy with continued discussions such as these.
Citations
* Generating a research hypothesis. (2001). Retrieved from http://people.uwec.edu/piercech/ResearchMethods/Generating%20a%20research%20hyhypothes/generating%20a%20research%20hypothesis%20index.htm
* How to calculate correlation between variables. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/how_8146181_calculate-correlation-between-variables.html 