Exhibit 19-1.A researcher wished to determine if there was a difference in the college aptitude examination scores of traditional and nontraditional undergraduate students.The researcher selected p = .05 as the level for rejecting the null hypothesis.The researcher obtained a mean score of 52 for nontraditional students and a mean score of 40 for the traditional students.Statistical analysis indicated that the difference in means was significant at the .05 level.
-Refer to Exhibit 19-1.The null hypothesis for this study would be
A) nontraditional college students will score higher on a college aptitude test than will traditional college students.
B) traditional college students will score higher on a college aptitude test than will nontraditional college students.
C) the age of students will have a significant effect on their performance on a college aptitude test.
D) there is no significant difference in the performance of traditional and nontraditional college students on a college aptitude examination.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The null hypothesis is always a statement of no difference or no effect. In this case, the null hypothesis would be that there is no significant difference in the performance of traditional and nontraditional college students on a college aptitude examination. Option A and B are alternative hypotheses, and option C is a different hypothesis altogether.