Which of the following does not need to be known in order to compute the p-value?
A)knowledge of whether the test is one-tailed or two-tailed
B)the value of the test statistic
C)the level of significance
D)All of these are needed.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The p-value is calculated by comparing the test statistic to a distribution under the null hypothesis, and it represents the probability of obtaining that test statistic or a more extreme one, assuming the null hypothesis is true. The level of significance (alpha) is a pre-determined threshold that specifies the maximum probability of rejecting the null hypothesis when it is actually true (i.e., making a Type I error). It is not directly involved in the calculation of the p-value, although it is often used to make a decision about whether to reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis based on the p-value. The choice between a one-tailed or two-tailed test depends on the research question and the directionality of the hypothesis, but it does not affect the computation of the p-value itself. Therefore, the only option that does not need to be known in order to compute the p-value is C, the level of significance.

Which of the Following Does Not Need to Be Known