There are 2 types of hypothesis: i) Directional ii) Non - Directional

Directional hypothesis are those where one can predict the direction (effect of one variable on the other as 'Positive' or 'Negative') for e.g: Girls perform better than boys ( 'better than' shows the direction predicted ) Non Directional hypothesis are those where one does not predict the kind of effect but can state a relationship between variable 1 and variable 2. for e.g. There will be a difference in the performance of girls & boys (Not defining what kind of difference) You can choose any of these hypothesis based on the kind of results you expect at the end.

Examples of : Directional and non directional

I would expect a non-directional hypothesis to be one which leaves it to the reader's imagination to think about what the end result will be. A directional hypothesis is the opposite, whereby one tries to convince others that his hypothesis is correct, instead of letting people judge for themselves. directional implys you are "hypothesising" and predicting the outcome before you conduct your research. None directional implies you don't know which way it will go. Its more hypothetical.

2)

hether you frame your alternative hypothesis, Ha, as one-sided (directional) or two-sided (nondirectional) is really up to you, but should be decided before you look at the data. It will affect the calculation of your p-value and ultimately your conclusions from the test. In most cases there will be a sound, obvious reason for choosing one or the other. For example, if you were testing the effectiveness of a new anti-cholesterol drug you'd probably only be interested in testing whether the average of the experimental group was lower than the control group. So Ha is directional, or one sided. If on the other hand you were testing, for example, whether a Group A performed better on a test than Group B, your Ha would be that the average of Group A does not equal Group B. That is, you're not sure, before you run the test,

whether Group A should perform better or worse than Group B. So your test is non-directional, or two-sided.

Why researchers choose directional or nondirectional hypothesis? Explain briefly?

esearchers choose the directional way of hypothesis because the variables involved in this are dependent and are interlinked and show the effect on one another. using this type the researchers find the solution of the problem in a systematic way because first variable give the direction for the next step. the non-directional type is also used but in this type the variables are just interlinked and not dependent. this also give the reseracher the sufficient information but does not give the researcher the further direction they have to find the next step by self. the variables are to be defined by self. Researchers choose the directional or non-directional hypothesis, because this can help them to prove the Hypothesis or to find new things. Directional hypothesis measures the direction of variation of two variables. This effect of one variable on the other variable can be in positive direction or in negative direction. Non-directional hypothesis does not indicate the kind of effects but only shows the relation between two variables.

How do you determine whether you have a directional or non-directional alternate hypothesis?
Consider the hypothesis as a trial against the null hypothesis. the data is evidence against the mean. you assume the mean is true and try to prove that it is not true. If the question statement asks you to determine if there is a difference between the statistic and a value, then you have a two tail test, the null hypothesis, for example, would be = d vs the alternate hypothesis d if the question ask to test for an inequality you make sure that your results will be worth while. for example. say you have a steel bar that will be used in a construction project. if the bar can support a load of 100,000 psi then you'll use the bar, if it cannot then you will not use the bar. if the null was 100,000 vs the alternate < 100,000 then will will have a meaningless test. in this case if you reject the null hypothesis you will conclude that the alternate hypothesis is true and the mean load the bar can support is less than 100,000 psi and you will not be able to use the bar. However, if you fail to reject the null then you will conclude it is plausible the mean is greater than or equal to 100,000. You cannot ever conclude that the null is true. as a result you should not use the bar because

you do not have proof that the mean strength is high enough. if the null was 100,000 vs. the alternate > 100,000 and you reject the null then you conclude the alternate is true and the bar is strong enough; if you fail to reject it is plausible the bar is not strong enough, so you don't use it. in this case you have a meaningful result. Any time you are defining the hypothesis test you need to consider whether or not the results will be meaningful.

What is the difference between an 'alternate hypothesis' and a 'non-directional hypothesis'

When testing a hypothesis, you are trying to disprove the null hypothesis. The null hypothesis says that there is no difference or effect between the independent and dependent variables or no difference between the treatment and control groups. The alternative hypothesis is the opposite of that. The alternative hypothesis says that there is a difference or effect between the variables. Your hypothesis can be directional or nondirectional. A directional hypothesis predicts that the independent variable will impact the dependent variable in certain way or direction. A directional hypothesis could be that therapy decreases depression. However, a nondirectional hypothesis states that there is simply a difference, but doesn't say whether it increases or decreases. A nondirectional hypothesis could be that therapy has an effect on depression. So, an alternative hypothesis can be either directional or nondirectional. Think of directional and nondirectional hypotheses as types of alternative hypotheses. So you can have a directional alternative hypothesis (therapy decreases depression) or a nondirectional alternative hypothesis (therapy has an effect on depression).