Discussion Questions Week One - Essay Example

Running Head: DISCUSSION QUESTION WEEK Discussion Question Week In APA Style By Discuss the steps of hypothesis testing. Why is hypothesis testing useful in conducting research?Hypothesis testing is an important aspect in conducting any research because it enables researchers to come up with a rational decision with the reality of the effect. It should be noted that in general, “statistical tests separate significant effects from mere luck or random chance” (Statistical Hypothesis Testing 2003).

In conducting hypothesis testing four steps are usually followed. First, the research question is translated into null and alternative hypotheses. From its original meaning, the null hypothesis is a claim of “no difference” in the data set, while the alternative hypothesis is a claim of “difference in the population” (Introduction to Hypothesis Testing n.d.) After this, the test statistic for the data is calculated according to the type of test which is conducted. When the test statistic has been estimated, it is converted into a p-value which is also known as the level of significance.

Lastly, the researcher makes a conclusion according to the result of the test. 2. Present a problem in the workplace or in the media that hypothesis testing could be applied to solve a business problem.Hypothesis testing is very much important and is now widely utilized in coming up with significant business decisions. It should be noted that this technique can be utilized both for quantitative and qualitative analyses. One of the applicability of hypothesis testing is in predicting whether there would be an increase in the productivity of the workforce with the proposed performance based salary scheme.

This is a very important issue which can be resolved using hypothesis testing noting that business organizations are now on the lookout for various techniques in order to motivate employees to excel in their respective posts. Monetary and non-monetary benefits are both used in order to increase employee productivity. Productivity can be measured through the average per hour production of employees which can be indicated by the dollar per hour that they contribute to the organization. A two-tailed hypothesis test can be conducted with the null hypothesis claiming that average productivity will not change or will still be equal to the previous average productivity.

ReferencesIntroduction to Hypothesis Testing. (n. d.). Retrieved 19 March 2008, from http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/gerstman/StatPrimer/hyp-test.pdf Statistical Hypothesis Testing. (2003). Retrieved 19 March 2008, from http://www.ganesha.org/spc/hyptest.html