[ Home ]                                 PSYC 220 (Research Methods), Fall 2006   S. J. Gilbert, SUNY-Oneonta

 

A CORRELATION/SIGNIFICANCE-TESTING/ LESSON

 

Let’s clear up some confusion concerning HYPOTHESIS and NULL-HYPOTHESIS.  In a Correlational study – the type you are considering in Assignment 8 – the NULL HYPOTHESIS is the assumption that we always start with, that there is NO RELATIONSHIP between the two measures in question.  NO RELATIONSHIP means that where people stand on one measure, is UNRELATED to where they stand on the other.

 

If we measure HAPPINESS and INCOME of 50 people, the NULL HYPOTHESIS is that they are not related (i.e., that how high a person’s score is on our happiness measure is UNRELATED to how high the person’s score is on our income measure).  The ALTERNATE (or RESEARCH) HYPOTHESIS, in contrast, is a claim that the two measures ARE RELATED – that how high a person’s score is on one measure IS RELATED to how high the person’s score is on the other.

 

We can state two kinds of ALTERNATE HYPOTHESES: DIRECTIONAL and NON-DIRECTIONAL.  A DIRECTIONAL HYPOTHESIS states the DIRECTION (positive vs. negative) of the expected relationship.  For example: “The hypothesis is that higher happiness scores are associated with higher income scores.”  This is the kind we usually state, because we usually have an idea concerning how two variables are likely to be related.   A NON-DIRECTIONAL hypothesis is noncommittal concerning the direction of the relationship.  For example: “The hypothesis is that happiness is related, in some fashion, to income.”

 

When we ask SPSS to calculate the correlation coefficient for two variables (like HAPPINESS and INCOME), SPSS gives us an r statistic (e.g., r = +.45), and a p (probability) statistic (e.g., p = .02).  The r statistic tells us how strong a correlation is (1.0 is the strongest it can be, 0 is the least strong it can be), and the direction of the relationship (+ or -).

 

What about the p statistic?  We will be seeing it all semester, and you will be learning, deeply, what it means.  Here’s the short course.

 

How do we find out whether or not two variables are related in nature?  We cannot measure all of nature to find out; we can only sample nature (e.g., choose 50 of the 6 billion people in the world, and give them our two measures).  Due to chance factors, two variables that are in fact unrelated in nature, are unlikely to yield a perfect-zero correlation coefficient when we measure any specific group of 50 people (just like a perfectly balanced coin is unlikely to yield exactly 25 heads in 50 tosses).  So, the question becomes:  how high does a correlation coefficient obtained from a particular sample of people have to be -- how far from 0 -- before we conclude that it is so high, that we can reject the idea that the two variables are unrelated in nature.  Is +.27 high enough?  +.41?  +.73? 

 

The p statistic tells us the probability that a correlation as high (or higher) than we received from our sample of subjects, could have happened if the two variables were truly UNCORRELATED in nature.  The LOWER the p, the less likely it is that we could have attained such a correlation in our sample, if those variables are NOT ACTUALLY RELATED in the world.

 

For example, with 50 subjects, here are some possible correlation coefficients, and the p statistics associated with them.

 

     r = .10

p = .80

     r = .20

p = .35

     r = .30

p = .08

     r = .40

p = .02

     r = .50

p = .01

 

Notice that as the correlation in our sample of 50 people gets bigger, the probability associated with it gets smaller.  So, in a world in which HAPPINESS and INCOME are, in fact, NOT RELATED, we would expect to get a correlation as high as +.20 from a sample of 50 people about 35% of the time.  Now, 35% is not all that rare.  So, a correlation of +.20 would NOT be high enough to cause us to REJECT the NULL HYPOTHESIS (that happiness and income are unrelated) and instead, accept the ALTERNATE HYPOTHESIS that they must be positively related.

 

But what if we got a correlation in our sample of 50 people, of r = .50?   The table tells us that in a world in which HAPPINESS and INCOME are, in fact, NOT RELATED, we would expect to get a correlation as high as +.50 only 1% of the time (1 in 100).  Two interpretations are possible.  One is that HAPPINESS and INCOME are, in fact, unrelated, and that our study was the 1 in 100 that would, by chance, yield a correlation between them as high as +.50.  If we believed that, we would RETAIN (keep believing) the NULL HYPOTHESIS, despite the +.50 correlation that we obtained in our study. 

 

The other possibility is that HAPPINESS and INCOME are, in fact, positively related in nature (in reality, in the world), and the +.50 correlation we got in our study attests to that fact.

 

Well, we’re back to our original question, which, if you remember, was “how high does a correlation coefficient have to be -- how far from 0 -- before we conclude that it is so high, that we can reject the idea that the two variables are unrelated in nature?”  Psychology has come to accept a particular convention.  If the p associated with a particular correlation coefficient is equal to or less than 5% -- the famous p < .05 level -- then we reject the NULL HYPOTHESIS (that the variables are UNRELATED in nature) and accept, instead, the ALTERNATE HYPOTHESIS (that the variables must be RELATED in nature).  Thus, our table tells us that if we measured the HAPPINESS and INCOME of 50 people, and obtained a correlation of +.30 (p = .08), we would have to RETAIN the NULL HYPOTHESIS (of no relationship existing in nature), and would NOT ACCEPT the ALTERNATE HYPOTHESIS (nature produces a positive relationship between HAPPINESS and INCOME).  But, if we, instead, obtained a correlation of +.40 (p < .02), we would REJECT the NULL HYPOTHESIS, and instead, ACCEPT the ALTERNATE HYPOTHESIS.  We would, in effect, decide that it is so unlikely (2 chances in 100) that a world in which HAPPINESS and INCOME are unrelated would produce a correlation this high (+.40), that we will adopt the belief that HAPPINESS and INCOME ARE ACTUALLY POSITIVELY RELATED in the world, and that our 50 subjects’ +.40 correlation reflects this relationship!

 

If you get this, you’re in great shape.  If you don’t get it, print it out, put it aside, and then reread it when you mind and attitude permit.

 

SJG

 

 

 [ Home ]