Hypothesis Testing
The research issue that will be the focus of the test is whether or not a new herbal medication (NHM) reduces symptoms of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) in children. This disorder causes obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors in children. Anxiety and fear are major causes of this disorder resulting in children repeating behaviors and obsessing about their worries and fears. The hypothesis testing for this new herbal medication (NHM), which the researchers predict will reduce OCD symptoms in children, generated two different types of hypotheses: verbal alternative and null hypotheses and numerical alternative and null hypotheses. The process of conducting this study begins with step one of the five steps of hypothesis testing and ends with the researchers deciding if the results are significant enough to reject the null hypothesis in favor of the alternative hypothesis and ends with the results plotted on a normal curve graph.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in Children
As adolescent children grow their minds and imaginations grow as well. Life begins to take on the form of order and organization as they mature. Understanding the appearance of OCD is important because symptoms of this disorder typically show in earlier stages of life (Wachter, 2004). As children grow they tend to have more worries and doubts, but in some children the worries and doubts accelerate. They start to think about them so much that it affects their daily functioning (Wachter, 2004). OCD in children is a type of anxiety disorder. It tends to manifest itself in thoughts about whether something is dirty, wrong, harmful, or dangerous or thoughts about something bad happening and can consume children’s thoughts (Kalra and Swedo, 2009).
Adults know what it feels like to have anxiety and most can deal with it appropriately. Children who experience anxiety do not know how to express their feelings or know how to control them, and obsess on the task at hand repeating it frequently. The symptoms children have are similar to those of adults. Treatment for OCD in adults and children is similar, if not the same. This treatment is behavior therapy and medications (Curran, 2006). Children with OCD know they do not have to repeat certain behaviors to stop feelings of anxiety and fear. The anxiety and fear; however, overrides this knowledge and they believe that if they perform a behavior repeatedly the anxiety and fear will subside (Kalra & Swedo, 2009). After the child has completed the ritualistic behavior(s) (obsession and compulsion) the anxiety may temporarily subside. This action is similar to an overactive alarm system. Every time feelings of anxiety and fear appear in a child the necessity of repeating the ritualistic behavior develops so the feelings will disappear. Because OCD symptoms disrupt children’s lives, researchers conduct new studies to determine what types of therapies and medications will reduce those symptoms. The hypotheses generated for one such study are addressed below.
Hypothesis Testing for a New Herbal Medication to Treat OCD Symptoms in Children
Two populations of children with OCD symptoms are the focus of this study. Population one is: children with OCD who take a new herbal medication (NHM) and Population two: children with OCD who do not take a new herbal medication (NHM). What the researchers are predicting is that the new herbal medication (NHM) will reduce the symptoms of OCD in children. After the populations are established and the research prediction stated, the first step in the hypothesis testing is for the researchers to restate their research prediction or question in the form of an alternative hypothesis and a null hypothesis (Aron, Aron & Coups, 2006).
The researchers will formulate two types of hypotheses, verbal and numerical. The verbal alternative hypothesis is: OCD symptoms in Population one children who take a new herbal medication (NHM) will be reduced more than Population two children with OCD symptoms who do not take the new herbal medication (NHM). The verbal null hypothesis, the exact opposite of the alternative hypothesis, is: OCD symptoms in Population one children who take a new herbal medication (NHM) will be the same as Population two children who do not take the new herbal medication (NHM). The second type of hypothesis is the numerical hypothesis. The numerical alternative hypothesis is: 90% of children diagnosed with OCD will have a 95% reduction in symptoms. The numerical null hypothesis is: 90% of children diagnosed with OCD will have a 0% (or NO) reduction in symptoms.
Determining the alternative and null hypotheses is an important first step in the five steps of hypothesis testing. In the beginning of this test the hypotheses explain the two populations in the study (Aron, 2006). In the final steps of testing a comparison of Population one and Population two results will determine if the researchers can reject the null hypothesis, and if there is enough evidence to accept the alternative hypothesis. In other words, the data collected will determine if there is a difference in the symptoms of OCD between the children who take the new herbal medication (NHM) and the children who do not.
The second step of hypothesis testing involves deciding upon the characteristics of the comparison distribution (Aron, 2006). This distribution represents the population of children in the null hypothesis in which there will be no difference in their OCD symptoms. After the testing is complete, the scores from the comparison distribution will be compared to the scores from the sample. Graphical representations in the form of a normal curve will show the results from the research and allow the researchers to identify and understand the data in the population that the alternative hypothesis predicts will change in the last step of the research. The normal curve graph will also show the results for the null hypothesis if accepted in the last step of the hypothesis testing.
The third step in hypothesis testing is just as important as the second step; determining the cutoff sample score on the comparison distribution for rejection of the null hypothesis (Aron, 2006). In this step, researchers will decide how extreme the sample score must be to reject the null hypothesis. To do this, researchers use Z scores and percentages. In the research and calculations there needs to be a significant level of change, like 0.01 or 0.05 and the Z score for the level of significance decided upon before the study begins is established. This means there is a chance that the alternative hypothesis will not be true and the null hypothesis will be true. If the significance level is lower, more proof is needed to reject the null hypothesis or accept the alternative hypothesis.
The fourth step is doing the study and determining the score of the sample (Aron, 2006). From the sample’s raw score, the researchers calculate the Z-score based on its mean and standard deviation. The Z score will determine the sample distribution of Population one that represents the alternative hypothesis. The equation is Z=(X-M)/SD (Aron, 2006). The last piece of this step is a comparison of this Z score and the Z score for the comparison distribution’s .01 or .05 significance level.
The fifth step in hypothesis testing is drawing a conclusion (Aron, 2006). With this a decision is made to accept or reject the null hypothesis. If not enough evidence exists that the Z score that is the cutoff score is greater than the Z score for the comparison distribution sample, the null hypothesis will be rejected. If these two Z scores are very close, the data may be considered statistically insignificant. However, if the Z score for the sample falls within the 0.01 or 0.05 significance level, (whichever level was pre-determined before the study began), the researchers can reject the null hypothesis. This makes the alternative hypothesis either statistically significant or statistically insignificant depending upon how much different the Z score for the sample is from the Z score for the comparison distribution. At the conclusion of this study, either the alternative hypothesis that says there will be a reduction in the symptoms of OCD in children taking a new herbal medication (NHM) will be accepted or the null hypothesis that says the symptoms of OCD in children taking the medication will be no different from the children not taking the new herbal medication (NHM), will be accepted.
Conclusion
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in children is an obsessive thought and compulsive behavior disorder. Fear and anxiety are major causes of this disorder resulting in children obsessing about these feelings and performing ritualistic behaviors in an attempt to make the feelings subside. This research study focuses on a new herbal medication (NHM), which researchers predict will reduce the symptoms of OCD in children. The study begins with step one of hypothesis testing by restating the prediction in the form of a verbal alternative and null hypothesis and a numerical alternative and null hypothesis. The researchers progress through the five steps of testing and at step five decide if the sample scores are significant enough to either accept or reject the null hypothesis. To do this the researchers will plot the scores on a normal curve graph. If the null hypothesis is rejected, the researchers must decide if the scores are statistically significant enough to accept the alternative hypothesis, their original prediction that the new herbal medication (NHM) will reduce the symptoms of OCD in children.
References
Aron, A. A. (2006). Statistics for psychology, fourth edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Curran, J. (2006). OCD in children. Mental Health Practice , 10 (4), 29.
Kalra, S. K., & Swedo, S. E. (2009). Children with obsessive-compulsive disorder: are they just "little adults"? Journal of Clinical Investigation , 119 (4), 737-837.
Wachter, K. (2004). Developmental landmarks key in OCD diagnosis: OCD differs in children vs. adults. Pediatric News , 38 (6), 21.
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