Question

For each of the following research scenarios, give the appropriate sampling distribution (i.e., test statistic) and indicate the appropriate statistical procedure to test the null hypothesis, and state the most appropriate null and alternate hypotheses.

a. A researcher believes there is a difference in tail size of spawning adult sturgeon depending on the characteristics of the river they return to spawn in. She measures the tail size of spawning sturgeon (average 15 fish per river) from five different rivers that vary in the average vertical drop of the river which should be indicative of the average flow velocity of the water in each river.

Answer 1

The appropriate null hypothesis for this study is that there is no difference in tail size of spawning adult sturgeon depending on the characteristics of the river they return to spawn in. The appropriate alternative hypothesis is that there is a difference in tail size. The random variable for this study is the tail size of spawning sturgeon.

Step-by-step explanation:

A. The appropriate null hypothesis for this study is: There is no difference in tail size of spawning adult sturgeon depending on the characteristics of the river they return to spawn in.

B. The appropriate alternative hypothesis for this study is: There is a difference in tail size of spawning adult sturgeon depending on the characteristics of the river they return to spawn in.

C. The random variable for this study is the tail size of spawning sturgeon.

D. To calculate the test statistic, you would need to use a statistical procedure that compares the means of multiple groups, such as an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA).

E. The p-value would need to be calculated using the ANOVA test statistic and comparing it to the significance level (alpha) of 0.05.

F. At the 5 percent level of decision, if the p-value is less than 0.05, we would reject the null hypothesis and conclude that there is a significant difference in tail size of spawning adult sturgeon depending on the characteristics of the river they return to spawn in. If the p-value is greater than 0.05, we would not reject the null hypothesis.

G. The Type I error in this context would be rejecting the null hypothesis when it is actually true.

H. The Type II error in this context would be failing to reject the null hypothesis when it is actually false.