This is the program for the 2010 Joint Statistical Meetings in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Abstract Details
Activity Number:
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310
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Type:
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Contributed
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Date/Time:
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Tuesday, August 3, 2010 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
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Sponsor:
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Section on Statistical Education
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Abstract - #307005 |
Title:
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Framing Specific Hypotheses: What's the Alternative?
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Author(s):
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Daniel Theodore Kaplan*+
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Companies:
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Macalester College
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Address:
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Macalester College, Saint Paul, MN, 55105,
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Keywords:
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hypothesis testing ;
alternative hypothesis ;
sample size ;
power ;
introductory course
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Abstract:
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In introductory statistics courses, the role of the null hypothesis is central, but the alternative hypothesis is reduced to a bit part that informs a single decision: whether to do a one-sided or a two-sided test. This situation stems from historical debates of the first half of the last century and earlier. I argue that these debates have become obsolete and irrelevant and should no longer shape our curriculum. In place of the abstract, "anything but the null" alternative, I advocate adopting a specific alternative hypothesis that relates to the problem at hand and using it to guide decisions such as the selection of sample size. I give examples of several settings in which specific alternatives can be constructed in a natural way and show easy and intuitively accessible ways to compute power as a function of sample size.
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The address information is for the authors that have a + after their name.
Authors who are presenting talks have a * after their name.
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