F-Test : Do we accept the null-hypothesis?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the application of the F-test in the context of a regression analysis involving the monthly gross income of developers based on their years of service. Participants explore the significance of the F criterion at a specified alpha level and the implications of the resulting p-value on the acceptance of the null hypothesis regarding the slope of the regression line.

Discussion Character

  • Technical explanation
  • Mathematical reasoning
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant calculates the regression line and the F statistic, concluding that the p-value indicates a lack of sufficient evidence to reject the null hypothesis regarding the slope.
  • Another participant clarifies that while the null hypothesis is 'kept', this does not confirm that the slope is zero.
  • Suggestions are made for verifying the results, including using Excel's LINEST function, which outputs the F-value for regression analysis.
  • Participants discuss the potential for using a t-test for the slope, which should yield a consistent p-value with the F-test.
  • There is a query about a possible mistake in the calculations of the F-value based on the output from the LINEST function.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the interpretation of the p-value in relation to the null hypothesis, but there is uncertainty regarding the calculations and the use of Excel functions, indicating that multiple views on the correctness of the calculations exist.

Contextual Notes

There are unresolved questions about the accuracy of the calculations performed by the participants, particularly concerning the F-value derived from the LINEST function and the conditions under which it is used.

mathmari
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Hey! :o

The below table shows the average monthly gross income of a sample of 44 developers. For each individual sample, it is indicated their country of employment and years of service in their field.

Calculate the regression line with the dependent variable the monthly gross income and independent the years of employee service and check the significance of the F criterion at $\alpha = 0.05$. I have done the following:

View attachment 9503

Therefore we get:
\begin{align*}\nu &=44 \\ \overline{X}&=\frac{\sum X}{\nu}=\frac{426.1}{44}=9.68 \\ \overline{Y}&=\frac{\sum Y}{\nu}=\frac{299767.60}{44}=6812.9 \\ \hat{\beta}&=\frac{\nu \sum \left (XY\right )-\left (\sum X\right )\left (\sum Y\right )}{\nu\sum X^2-\left (\sum X\right )^2}=\frac{44 \cdot 2911490.795-426.1\cdot 299767.60}{44\cdot 4417.39-426.1^2}=\frac{1.2810559498 \cdot 10^8-1.2773097436 \cdot 10^8}{194365.16-181561.21} \\ & =\frac{374620.62}{12803.95}=29.26 \\ \hat{\alpha}&=\overline{Y}-\hat{\beta}\cdot \overline{X}=6812.9-29.26\cdot 9.68=6812.9-283.2368=6529.66\end{align*}

So the regression line is \begin{equation*}\hat{Y}=29.26X+6529.66\end{equation*} We consider a F-test whether the slope is $0$ or not.

We have the formula $\displaystyle{F=\frac{MSM}{MSE}=\frac{\text{explained variance}}{\text{unexplained variance}}}$.

We have that $\displaystyle{MSM = \frac{SSM}{DFM}}$ with $\displaystyle{SSM=\sum_{i=1}^n\left (\hat{Y}_i-\overline{Y}\right )^2}$ and $\displaystyle{DFM = p - 1}$.

We also have that $\displaystyle{MSE = \frac{SSE}{DFE}}$ with $\displaystyle{SSE=\sum_{i=1}^n\left (Y_i-\hat{Y}_i\right )^2}$ and $\displaystyle{DFE = \nu-p}$. We have this table.

So we get
\begin{align*}&SSM=249138.5759 \\ &DFM=2-1=1 \\ &SSE=104926827.5 \\ &DFE=44-2=42 \\ &MSM=\frac{SSM}{DFM}=\frac{249138.5759}{1}=249138.5759 \\ &MSE=\frac{SSE}{DFE}=\frac{104926827.5}{42}=2498257.7976 \\ &F=\frac{MSM}{MSE}=\frac{249138.5759}{2498257.7976}=0.0997\end{align*}

Using at the R-program the command pf(0.0997, 1, 42, lower.tail=F) we get the p-value $0.7537537$.

That means that $\text{p-value} > \alpha$, does this mean that we accept the null hypothesis, i.e. that the slope is not significally different from $0$.

Is that correct? (Wondering)
 

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mathmari said:
That means that $\text{p-value} > \alpha$, does this mean that we accept the null hypothesis, i.e. that the slope is not significally different from $0$.

Is that correct?

Hey mathmari!

Formally it means we do not have sufficient evidence to conclude the slope is different from 0.
We 'keep' the null hypothesis, but we cannot conclude that the slope is 0. (Nerd)
 
Klaas van Aarsen said:
Formally it means we do not have sufficient evidence to conclude the slope is different from 0.
We 'keep' the null hypothesis, but we cannot conclude that the slope is 0. (Nerd)

Ah ok! Is there a way to check if my results are correct? (Wondering)
 
mathmari said:
Ah ok! Is there a way to check if my results are correct?

Excel has the [M]LINEST[/M] function.
One of its outputs is the F-value when used in a 5x2 array context for a simple linear regression. (Thinking)
Excel also has the [M]F.DIST[/M] function to convert an F-value into a probability.

We can also do a t-test for the slope as we did before. It should yield the same p-value. (Thinking)

Additionally we can draw a graph of the points and the line to see if it makes sense that the explained variance is so much lower than the unexplained variance. (Thinking)
 
Klaas van Aarsen said:
Excel has the [M]LINEST[/M] function.
One of its outputs is the F-value when used in a 5x2 array context for a simple linear regression. (Thinking)

Using the command [M]LINEST(D2:D45;B2:B45)[/M] I get $29.25833947$. If I used the command correctly, I must have a mistake at the calculations of $F$. But what? (Wondering)
 
mathmari said:
Using the command [M]LINEST(D2:D45;B2:B45)[/M] I get $29.25833947$. If I used the command correctly, I must have a mistake at the calculations of $F$. But what? (Wondering)

To get the F-value from LINEST, we need to specify 4 parameters. And we must make it an array formula with Ctrl+Shift+Enter. (Thinking)

You should also get for instance the slope and the y intercept. Do they match? (Wondering)
 

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