retention/rejection

[dennis roberts]

the terms retention and rejection refer to actions we take ... based on comparing some sample data to some stated null hypothesis

clearly, there are a number of ways one could go about making retention and/or rejection decisions ... one could perform the standard "test" and see if the value (t for example) calculated from your sample data was = or >, or < than some critical value

one could also construct a confidence interval and see if the null value was inside or outside of that CI

the question i have is: do the terms "retention REGION" and "rejection REGION" have variable meanings?

for example, most books will show some theoretical null distribution with CVs at either end (if a 2 tailed test) and label the middle around the null value as the RETENTION area or region and the extremes as the REJECTION area or region ... BUT, could not the range between the boundaries of the CI also be called the RETENTION area or region and the area outside be called the REJECTION region or area?

is it THE areas that give forth to specific decisions that is key here or, areas ON some specific distribution that are key? that is ... are the terms retention and rejection regions ONLY appropriate when considering two overlapping null and true distributions for the purposes of establishing power, etc?

_________________________________________________________
dennis roberts, educational psychology, penn state university
208 cedar, AC 8148632401, mailto:dmr@;psu.edu
http://roberts.ed.psu.edu/users/droberts/drober~1.htm

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