Question

Researchers want to examine the effect of perceived control on health complaints of geriatric patients in a long-term care facility. Thirty patients are randomly selected to participate in the study. Half are given a plant to care for and half are given a plant but the care is conducted by the staff. The number of health complaints are recorded for each patient over the following seven days. The calculated t is 3.691 and the critical t is 2.048. Should we reject the null hypothesis?

a. no

b. there is not enough info to determine

c. only partial

d. yes

Answer 1

Since the calculated t-value is greater than the critical t-value at an alpha level of 0.05, we should reject the null hypothesis, indicating a significant difference in health complaints between the two groups. Option A

Step-by-step explanation:

Based on the information given, we should compare the calculated t-value to the critical t-value to decide whether to reject the null hypothesis. In this scenario, the calculated t-value of 3.691 is higher than the critical t-value of 2.048. Since this is the case, and assuming an alpha level of 0.05, the decision would be to reject the null hypothesis. This is because the calculated t-value falls in the critical region, which suggests that there is a statistically significant difference between the groups—in this case, between the number of health complaints for patients who cared for a plant and those who did not. Therefore, there is sufficient evidence at the 5 percent level of significance to conclude that perceived control through caring for a plant has an effect on the health complaints of geriatric patients.

Answer 2

The calculated t-value of 3.691 exceeds the critical t-value of 2.048, indicating that the null hypothesis should be rejected at the alpha level of 0.05, suggesting a significant difference in health complaints between patient groups in the study.

Step-by-step explanation:

When researchers want to examine the effect of perceived control on health complaints of geriatric patients, and they employ a statistical test to do so, they are often dealing with a hypothesis test scenario. Given the calculated t-value of 3.691 is higher than the critical t-value of 2.048, we should reject the null hypothesis.

This is because the p-value associated with the calculated t would be less than the commonly used alpha level of 0.05, leading to the conclusion that there is a statistically significant difference between the groups (those who were given a plant to care for vs. those for whom the care was conducted by the staff).