preview

QNT 351 Week 4 Learning Team Reflection Essay

Decent Essays

Learning Team Reflection
QNT/351

Learning Team Reflection
Statistics refers to the use of numerical information in everyday life to calculate facts and figures in limitless circumstances. In addition, statistics refers to the scientific collecting, classifying, summarizing, organizing, analyzing, and interpreting numerical data. This week the class’s objectives were to apply the steps in testing a research hypothesis, to compare the means of two or more groups, and to calculate the correlation between two variables. Learning Team D’s members have reflected on each of these issues and share their insights on these objectives.
Testing a Research Hypothesis
The purpose of testing a research hypothesis is to prove or disprove the …show more content…

Whenever the area of interest involves the differences, comparison, proportions or variability, then data can be collected on two or more groups—this would be considered the target parameter (Lind, Marchal, & Wathen, 2011).
In a quantitative analysis the interest is more likely to compare means or variances; whereas, a qualitative experiment with two outcomes is more likely to focus on success or failure. When comparing the means of two or more groups these populations can both or all be independent and the expectation is to determine the reason for a difference in the means—this would deliver a result where the means are other than zero. The typical assumption is that there will be a normal distribution and that a random sample is collected for each of the populations. Another characteristic of comparing means of two or more groups is that when standard deviation is known or unknown and the population sample is large, then a z distribution (z-test) is used and in the case where it is unknown and the sample size is small, then a t distribution (t-test) is used. However, in the case where the experiment calls for a test of two or more dependent samples for one group or population, then a paired t-test is used to draw results (Lind, Marchal, & Wathen, 2011).
Calculate the Correlation Between Two Variables
When calculating the correlation between two variables, the objective is to see how one variable is influenced by another variable. The bivariate

Get Access