Research Methodology Statistics
Research Methodology Statistics
Research Methodology Statistics
Statistics
Maha Omair
Teaching Assistant
Department of Statistics, College of
science
King Saud University
Randomization
Randomization is the
cornerstone underlying the
use of statistical methods in
experimental design. By
randomization we mean that
both the allocation of the
experimental material and
the order in which individual
runs or trials of the
experiment are to be
performed are randomly
determined.
Minitab
Minitab
Minitab
Replication
By replication we mean a repetition of the basic
experiment. Replication has two important properties:
1. It allows the experimenter to obtain an estimate of the
experimental error.
2. If the sample mean is used to estimate the effect of a factor
in the experiment, then replication permits the
experimenter to obtain a more precise estimate of this
effect.
Without replication
With replication
Blocking
If the experimental units are not homogeneous,
considerable improvement can be achieved
by blocking (grouping) together units that are
homogeneous.
Example: Rats coming from the same litter.
P-value
P-value is a measure of how much evidence we have against the null hypotheses. The
smaller the p-value, the more evidence we have against H0.
Traditionally, researchers will reject a hypothesis if the p-value is less than 0.05.
Sometimes, though, researchers will use a stricter cut-off (e.g., 0.01) or a more
liberal cut-off (e.g., 0.10). The general rule is that a small p-value is evidence
against the null hypothesis while a large p-value means little or no evidence against
the null hypothesis.
P-value
P 0.01
0.01 P 0.05
0.05 P 0.10
0.10 P
Interpretation
very strong evidence against H0
moderate evidence against H0
suggestive evidence against H0
little or no real evidence against
ANOVA
Example:
In a study on the effect of nitrogen fertilization on cereal
crops, plots of a particular variety of wheat were
randomly given fertilizer at on of four rates: 0, 50, 100,
150. At a certain date, plants were randomly selected
from the plots and the plant height (in cm) was
measured [based on Ghandorah(1985a)].
Can we conclude that all 4 fertilizer rates have equal
effects on the average plant height?
ANOVA
ANOVA
ANOVA
ANOVA
ANOVA
HEIGHT
Between Groups
Within Groups
Total
Sum of
Squares
329.482
44.600
374.082
df
3
13
16
Mean
Square
109.827
3.431
F
32.012
Sig.
.000
Ho: all 4 fertilizer rates have the same effect on plant height.
Ha: Some of the 4 fertilizer rates have different effects on plant height.
P-value = 0
We conclude that all 4 fertilizer rates have different effects on the
average plant height.
ANOVA
0
50
100
150
38.5 47.1
49.1
48.2
From mean separation we can see that there is no
significant difference between the effect of 50 ,
100 and 150 fertilizer rates on plant height.
We can recommend to use the 50 fertilizer rate
because it is coast effective.
Conclusions and
recommendations
Once the data has been analyzed, the experimenter
may draw conclusions or inferences about the
results. The statistical inference must be physically
interpreted, and the practical significance of these
findings evaluated. Then recommendations
concerning these findings must be made.
The use of graphical display is a very effective way
to present experimental results.