Value calculated from research data in order to test a hypothesis. The test is selected based on characteristics of the hypothesis and the data. Typically, a statistical test is a ratio of the observed measure of effect and the standard error (a chance measure of expected effect). The test statistic is “looked up†in an appropriate table to convert it to a p-value. Different test statistics (z, t, F, χ 2, U, etc.) are all entered with the test statistic and return a p-value. All test statistics under 1.0 are insignificant. [See measure of effect, p-value, standard error
a number, calculated from the data, which has a known statistical distribution assuming the null hypothesis is true
a quantity calculated from our sample of data
A statistic that is used to identify extreme events, and hence to decide whether to reject the null hypothesis. Typically, larger values of the test statistics correspond to more extreme events, although sometimes the setup is such that one rejects for small values of the test statistic.
Measures the degree to which a sample is inconsistent with the null hypothesis.
The specific statistic used to test the null hypothesis (e.g., the t statistic or chi-square statistic).