In carrying out of any experiments one’s intention is to test the viability of something. When undertaking any experiment one usually sets what he wishes to determine as the objectives of the experiment. This is set in a statement called the hypothesis. There are two types of hypothesis; null hypothesis denoted by H0 and the alternative hypothesis denoted by H1. The null hypothesis is stated as the hypothesis of no difference. This essentially indicates that the two things being tested or compared are the same. It can also be interpreted that the two things being tested have no effect on one another or they don’t relate in any way. In simpler terms we can say that increase or decrease of one phenomenon is not dictated in any way by the other. Alternative hypothesis is the opposite of the null hypothesis. If alternative hypothesis is accepted it means that the two phenomenon been tested show significant different. It can also mean that the phenomenon show significant relation with one another.
In the experiments to determine the relationship between behavioral therapy and psychoanalysis when treating a disorder in eating, we can say that the factors being compared were behavioral therapy and psychoanalysis. The test will be aimed at establishing whether behavioral therapy and psychoanalysis had any benefit in treating an eating disorder. In this situation the hypothesis to be tested will be:
H0: Behavioral therapy and psychoanalysis are not important factors in treating of an eating disorder against
H1: Behavioral therapy and psychoanalysis are important factors in treating of an eating disorder against
The conclusions will be if P-value is less than 0.05 we reject the null hypothesis and adopt the alternative. This will imply that behavioral therapy and psychoanalysis are important factors to consider whether they are causing any effect on the eating disorder.
Reference
Asadoorian, M. O. (2005). Essentials of inferential statistics 4th Ed. Maryland: University press of America
