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Testing Hypotheses
You already know how

to deal with two
nominal variables
Overview
Independent Variables
Nominal Interval
Considers the distribution Considers how a change in

Nominal
of one variable across the a variable affects a

categories of another discrete outcome
Dependent
variable
Variable
Considers the difference Considers the degree to

Interval
between the mean of one which a change in one

group on a variable with variable results in a
another group change in another
to deal with two
nominal variables
Overview
Nominal Interval
Considers how a change in

Nominal
a variable affects a
Lambda
discrete outcome
Dependent
Variable
Considers the difference Considers the degree to

Interval
between the mean of one which a change in one

group on a variable with variable results in a
another group change in another
TODAY!
Testing the differences
between groups
to deal with two Overview
nominal variables
Nominal Interval
Considers how a change in

Nominal
a variable affects a
Lambda
discrete outcome
Dependent
Variable
Considers the degree to

Interval
Confidence Intervals which a change in one

t-test variable results in a
change in another
TODAY!
Testing the differences
between groups
General Examples
Nominal Interval
Nominal
Dependent
Variable
Interval
Is one group scoring significantly

higher on average than another group?
Is a group statistically different from
another on a particular dimension?
Is Group A’s mean higher than Group
B’s?
Specific Examples
Nominal Interval
Nominal
Dependent
Variable
Interval
Do people living in rural communities live

longer than those in urban or suburban areas?
Do students from private high schools perform
better in college than those from public high
schools?
Is the average number of years with an employer
lower or higher for large firms (over 100
employees) compared to those with fewer than
100 employees?
Testing Hypotheses
• Statistical hypothesis testing – A procedure that
allows us to evaluate hypotheses about population
parameters based on sample statistics.
• Research hypothesis (H1) – A statement reflecting the
substantive hypothesis. It is always expressed in terms
of population parameters, but its specific form varies
from test to test.
• Null hypothesis (H0) – A statement of “no difference,”
which contradicts the research hypothesis and is
always expressed in terms of population parameters.
Research and Null Hypotheses
One Tail — specifies the hypothesized direction
• Research Hypothesis:
H1: 2 1, or 2 1 > 0
• Null Hypothesis:
H0: 2 1, or 2 1 = 0
Two Tail — direction is not specified (more common)

• Research Hypothesis:
H1: 2 1, or 2 1 = 0
• Null Hypothesis:
H0: 2 1, or 2 1 = 0
One-Tailed Tests
• One-tailed hypothesis test – A hypothesis test in
which the alternative is stated in such a way that
the probability of making a Type I error is entirely
in one tail of a sampling distribution.
• Right-tailed test – A one-tailed test in which the
sample outcome is hypothesized to be at the right
tail of the sampling distribution.
• Left-tailed test – A one-tailed test in which the
sample outcome is hypothesized to be at the left
tail of the sampling distribution.
Two-Tailed Tests
• Two-tailed hypothesis test – A
hypothesis test in which the region of
rejection falls equally within both tails of
the sampling distribution.
Probability Values
• Z statistic (obtained) – The test statistic
computed by converting a sample statistic
(such as the mean) to a Z score. The
formula for obtaining Z varies from test to
test.
• P value – The probability associated with
the obtained value of Z.
Probability Values
Probability Values
• Alpha ( ) – The level of probability at
which the null hypothesis is rejected. It is
customary to set alpha at the .05, .01, or .
001 level.
Five Steps to Hypothesis Testing
(1) Making assumptions
(2) Stating the research and null hypotheses
and selecting alpha
(3) Selecting the sampling distribution and
specifying the test statistic
(4) Computing the test statistic
(5) Making a decision and interpreting the
results
Type I and Type II Errors
• Type I error (false rejection error)the probability (equal
to ) associated with rejecting a true null hypothesis.
• Type II error (false acceptance error)the probability
associated with failing to reject a false null hypothesis.
Based on sample results, the decision made is to…
reject H0 do not reject H0
In the true Type I correct

population error () decision
H0 is ...
false correct Type II error
decision
t Test
• t statistic (obtained) – The test statistic computed
to test the null hypothesis about a population mean
when the population standard deviation is unknow
and is estimated using the sample standard
deviation.
• t distribution – A family of curves, each
determined by its degrees of freedom (df). It is
used when the population standard deviation is
unknown and the standard error is estimated from
the sample standard deviation.
• Degrees of freedom (df) – The number of scores
that are free to vary in calculating a statistic.
t distribution
t distribution table
t-test for difference between two means
Is the value of 2 1 significantly different from 0?
This test gives you the answer:
Y1 Y 2 The difference between the
t( N1  N 2  2 )  two means
SY1 Y2  the estimated standard

error of the difference
If the t value is greater than 1.96, the difference

between the means is significantly different from
zero at an alpha of .05 (or a 95% confidence level).
The critical value of t will be higher than 1.96 if the total N is less
than 122. See Appendix C for exact critical values when N < 122.
Estimated Standard Error of the
difference between two means
assuming unequal variances
2 2
s1 s2
SY Y  
1 2
N1 N2
t-test and Confidence Intervals
Y1 Y 2
t ( N1  N 2  2 ) 
SY1 Y2
The t-test is essentially creating a confidence interval around
the difference score. Rearranging the above formula, we can
calculate the confidence interval around the difference
between two means:
Y  Y   t ( S
1 2 Y 1 Y 2
)
If this confidence interval overlaps with zero, then we
cannot be certain that there is a difference between the
means for the two samples.
Why a t score and not a Z score?
Y  Y   t ( S
1 2 Y 1 Y 2
)
• Use of the Z distribution has assumes the population
standard error of the difference is known. In practice,
we have to estimate it and so we use a t score.
• When N gets larger than 50, the t distribution
converges with a Z distribution so the results would be
identical regardless of whether you used a t or Z.
• In most sociological studies, you will not need to
worry about the distinction between Z and t.
t-Test Example 1
Mean pay according to gender:
N Mean Pay S.D.
Women 46 $10.29 .8766
Men 54 $10.06 .9051
10.06  10.29 .23

T 2 2
  1.23
.9051 .8766 .1785

54 46
Y2  Y1 What can we conclude
T( N1  N 2  2 )  2 2 about the difference in
s1 s
 2 wages?
N1 N 2
t-Test Example 2
Mean pay according to gender:
N Mean Pay S.D.
Women 57 $9.68 1.0550
Men 51 $10.32 .9461
10.32  9.68 .64

T   3.32
.94612 1.05502 .1925

51 57
Y2  Y1 What can we conclude
T( N1  N 2  2 )  about the difference in
s12 s22
 wages?
N1 N 2
In-Class Exercise
Using these GSS income data, calculate a t-test statistic to
determine if the difference between the two group means is
statistically significant.
Mean Standard Deviation N
Men $22,052.51 $17,734.92 434
Women $14,331.21 $12,165.89 448
Y 2  Y1
T(N1  N 2  2) 
s12 s 22

N1 N 2
22,052.51  14,221.21 7,831.30

T(880)    7.62
17,734.92 2 12,165.89 2 1,027.18

434 448

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Testing Hypotheses

You already know how

Considers the distribution Considers how a change in

of one variable across the a variable affects a

Considers the difference Considers the degree to

between the mean of one which a change in one

Considers how a change in

Considers the difference Considers the degree to

between the mean of one which a change in one

Considers how a change in

Considers the degree to

Confidence Intervals which a change in one

Is one group scoring significantly

Do people living in rural communities live

Two Tail — direction is not specified (more common)

In the true Type I correct

Y1 Y 2 The difference between the

SY1 Y2  the estimated standard

If the t value is greater than 1.96, the difference

10.06  10.29 .23

10.32  9.68 .64

22,052.51  14,221.21 7,831.30

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