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THE EFFECTS OF CHANGING SAMPLE SIZE ON THE ALPHA AND BETA ERRORS: A PEDAGOGIC NOTE
Author(s) -
Tsang Herbert H.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
decision sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.238
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 1540-5915
pISSN - 0011-7315
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-5915.1977.tb01118.x
Subject(s) - alpha (finance) , beta (programming language) , sample size determination , sample (material) , statistics , econometrics , mathematics , computer science , physics , thermodynamics , construct validity , programming language , psychometrics
This note discusses a theoretical peculiarity about the interrelationships between the sample size and the two types of decision errors in hypothesis testing theory. It is shown that for a given decision rule, while the alpha error invariably diminishes as the sample size becomes larger, the beta error could increase for certain values of the parameter under the alternative hypothesis.