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How does the Bonferroni-Holm test improve the conservative nature associated with the Bonferroni test?

a. It reduces the significance threshold for each comparison
b. It increases the number of comparisons made
c. It corrects for Type II errors
d. It adjusts the alpha level based on the number of comparisons

User Idbrii
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Final answer:

The Bonferroni-Holm test increases the test power over the Bonferroni test by using a step-down procedure to adjust the alpha levels for multiple comparisons.

Step-by-step explanation:

The Bonferroni-Holm test improves on the Bonferroni test by adjusting the alpha level in a step-down procedure. This test controls the family-wise error rate like the original Bonferroni but is less conservative. The procedure starts by ordering the p-values from smallest to largest and then comparing each to a different alpha level. For the first test, alpha is divided by the number of tests (n), for the second test, alpha is divided by n-1, and so on. If a p-value is smaller than its corresponding alpha level, the null hypothesis for that test is rejected, and the procedure continues to the next smallest p-value, testing against a new alpha level. Otherwise, the procedure stops, which means that subsequent hypotheses are not rejected.

Essentially, the Bonferroni-Holm test adjusts the alpha level based on the number of comparisons that remain, which offers a slight increase in power over the traditional Bonferroni test. For instance, if a null hypothesis is not rejected at significant level alpha = 0.01, this implies one does not have sufficient evidence to reject it, aligning with scenario d, Do not reject the null hypothesis. The claim in scenario f suggests that when results are not statistically significant, the academic group's claim is considered correct.

User Lauri Koskela
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