Two-Sample Interpretation of data

[mackerbuddy]

Ok this one if gonna be a little hard to copy from the book....

Q:

A study of the self-concept of seventh-grade students asked if male and female students differ in mean scores on the Piers-Harris Self Concept Scale. Software gave these summary results:

Female
n = 31
mean = 55.5165
std dev = 12.6961
std err = 2.2803

Male
n =47
mean = 57.9149
std dev = 12.2649
std err = 1.7890

t = -0.8276
df = 62.8
P = 0.4110

Write a sentence or two summarizing the comparison of female and male students as if you were preparing a report for publication.

In the comparison of female and male students, the male students averaged a higher score than the females on the Piers-Harris Self Concept Scale, however only slightly. The study is not a very good means of predicting the overall score differences as the P = 0.4110. The std err was larger for the females as their sample size was smaller.....

Ok, I give up! I have no idea how I'm supposed to answer this so I'll stop babbling! Please help!

Thanks in advance!

 

[JohnM]

Write out the hypotheses (Ho and Ha) and explain whether the evidence supports:

rejecting Ho or

failing to reject Ho

and why.

 

[mackerbuddy]

Ok, so I have a feeling that I'm a little weak in the area of interpreting data, but this is what I see it to mean:

Ho: m = f
Ha: m (does not equal) f

With the evidence provided by the data, we must accept the null hypothesis.

The probability that this outcome occured by chance is 41%, which is a quite high possibility. Therefore, we can conclude that the mean difference in male and female scores is approximately equal.

Is there more I can elaborate on? The question only asked for a couple of sentences. Did I get this mixed up or did I interpret it correctly?

Thanks in advance

 

[JohnM]

Change "must accept" to "fail to reject" and

change "approximately equal" to "not significantly different"