A professor is examining success of tenure-track faculty in attaining tenure at their postsecondary institution. He surveys tenure-track faculty who have went through the tenure process in the past year and gathers data on two variables: 1) the number of publications in refereed journals (measured in whole numbers); and 2) whether or not they attained tenure (yes or no). The research question is: Is there an average difference in the number of publications based on faculty who attain tenure as compared to faculty who do not attain tenure? Which one of the following represents how the ALTERNATIVE hypothesis will be written?
A) The number of publications differs, on average for faculty who attain tenure as compared to faculty who do not attain tenure.
B) The average number of publications for faculty who attain tenure is the same as the average number of publications of faculty who do not attain tenure.
C) The average number of publications of faculty who attain tenure is less than or equal to the average number of publications of faculty who do not attain tenure.
D) The average number of publications of faculty who attain tenure is greater than or equal to the average number of publications of faculty who do not attain tenure.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The alternative hypothesis posits a difference in the means of two groups, in this case, suggesting that the average number of publications for faculty who attain tenure is different from those who do not.

A Professor Is Examining Success of Tenure-Track Faculty in Attaining