Question

Discuss in not more than 100 words the purposes of hypothesis testing in quantitative research. Illustrate your answers with at least one example in the construction industry.

Answer 1

The purpose of hypothesis testing in quantitative research is to make an inference about the population from a sample data. A claim/hypothesis is made and the tools for hypothesis testing are used to determine whether we have enough statistical evidence to support the hypothesis or reject it. Hypothesis testing is used in many fields including construction industry. One of the examples are:

A safety/civil engineer wants to test the minimum load-bearing capacity of a bridge (30 years old) in San Francisco City. The hypothesis is made and the sample data are taken at different points of time. The parameter used here is the capacity of the bridge in tons. Using the statistical tools and tests, we make an inference about the capacity of the bridge on the basis of the sample.