10.8 Spearman's Rank

What is the primary purpose of using statistical tests in biology?

• To measure the amount of water in soil samples

• To determine the color of leaves based on sunlight exposure

• To compare the means of two sets of data to see if there is a significant difference

• To calculate the average height of trees in a forest

Which statistical test is used to compare the means of two sets of data?

• T-test

• Chi-square test

• ANOVA

• Spearman's rank correlation coefficient

What does a significant difference in a T-test suggest?

• There is no relationship between the two sets of data

• The data sets are identical

• A factor is causing a difference between the two sets of data

• The data sets are completely random

What does Spearman's rank correlation coefficient test determine?

• The mean of a single set of data

• If there is a positive or negative correlation between two sets of data

• The variance within a set of data

• The mode of the data sets

What hypothesis is formed to suggest that observed differences are due to chance?

• Alternative hypothesis

• Null hypothesis

• Significance hypothesis

• Correlation hypothesis

What is the critical value in statistical tests used for?

• To find the median of the data

• To calculate the standard deviation

• To compare the test value against to decide on the null hypothesis

• To determine the mean of the data set

What does a P-value of 0.05 indicate in statistical tests?

• There is a 95% probability that the results are due to chance

• There is a 5% probability that the results are due to chance

• The results are 100% accurate

• The data sets are not related

If the test value is greater than the critical value, what is the conclusion?

• Accept the null hypothesis

• Reject the null hypothesis

• The data sets are identical

• The test is inconclusive

What does accepting the null hypothesis imply?

• The test value is greater than the critical value

• There is a significant difference between the data sets

• The observed difference is likely due to chance

• The data sets are perfectly correlated

Why is it important to include the word 'significant' when discussing differences in T-tests?

• To suggest that the difference is large in magnitude

• To indicate that the difference is due to random chance

• To imply that a factor is causing the observed effect or difference

• To show that the data sets are identical