In a large population of adults, the frequency of the PTC tasting allele was 0.6
ID: 259249 • Letter: I
Question
In a large population of adults, the frequency of the PTC tasting allele was 0.65, and the frequency of the non-tasting allele was 0.35. Approximatly 80% of the individuals in the population reported being able to taste PTC at some level. Researchers selected equal numbers of PTC tasters and non-PTC tasters to take part in an experiment to assess bitter tasting preference. The study participants were asked their preference for tasting differerent blends of coffee to test the following hypothesis:
H0: There will be no difference in preference for coffee blends for non-PTC tasters as compared to PTC-tasting individuals.
HA: non-PTC-tasting individuals will have a stronger preference for dark coffee blends as compared to PTC-tasting individuals.
When the ranked preferences for non-tasters and tasters were compared using a t-test, the alpha was 0.05, and the p-value was 0.48. What conclusion can be drawn from this data and the resulting p-value?
Explanation / Answer
The t test is a statistical test that measures whether two means of the two groups (non-tasters and tasters) are significantly different.
T value: The t value will indicate whether there is statistical difference between the two groups. The t value= difference between the two means/ variability between the groups.
The t values are analyzed in a t distribution table. For this analysis, an alpha value and degree of freedom is required. An alpha value is set which is usually 0.05. This value indicates that 5 times out of 100, there is statistical difference between the two group means. If the t value is high, then there is more probability that the differences are significant. If t is closer to 0, there is no difference between the groups. The t values if high, indicates that the null hypothesis is rejected. This indicates that there is a statistical difference between the two groups.
The p value is the probability that the observed statistic occurred by chance alone, assuming null hypothesis to be true. If the p value is less than or equal to alpha, the null hypothesis (Ho) is rejected. The result is not due to chance. If the p value is greater than alpha, the null hypothesis is accepted as the result can be explained by chance alone.
The P value of 0.48 is higher than the alpha value of 0.05. Hence, the null hypothesis is accepted and the alternate hypothesis (HA) is rejected. The results are due to chance. Hence, there is no significant difference in preference for coffee blends for non-PTC (phenylthiocarbide) tasters as compared to PTC tasters.
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