Question: module 5 dq 2 argument Rachel

The pair of hypotheses provided in the question for Module 5 DQ2 are not valid for the research question, "Is there a relationship between GRE total scores and GPAs in the Master's programs in electrical engineering?" for several reasons. First, the research question indicates the researcher is unsure about the type of relationship (linear, parabolic, etc.) under consideration. Second, the hypotheses uses the terminology correlation, not relationship, and there is more than one type of correlation measurement. Thus, the research question and hypotheses are not aligned. Furthermore, if the researcher is intending to seek a linear relationship using Pearson correlation, then the research question would indicate the researcher is unsure of whether the linear relationship is positive or negative, which would call for a two-tailed test, not a right-tailed test as indicated by the proposed alternate hypotheses. (Pressman, 2016; Stewart, Lim, & Kim, 2015).

Assuming the researcher is interested in a linear relationship with no preconception of whether the direction is positive or negative, the research question and hypotheses could be aligned as follows, creating a two-tailed test.

R1: Is there a linear relationship between GRE total scores and GPA in the Master's programs in electrical engineering?

H10: There is no linear relationship between GRE total scores and GPA in the Master's programs in electrical engineering.

H1a: There is a linear relationship between GRE total scores and GPA in the Master's programs in electrical engineering.

However, if the researcher is interested in a positive linear relationship between these variables, the research question and hypotheses could be aligned as follows, creating a right-tailed test.

R2: Is there a positive linear relationship between GRE total scores and GPA in the Master's programs in electrical engineering.

H20: There is no positive linear relationship between GRE total scores and GPA in the Master's programs in electrical engineering.

H2a: There is a positive linear relationship between GRE total scores and GPA in the Master's programs in electrical engineering.