“What If” analysis: Benefits of utilizing a “What If” analysis in excel

ABSTRACT

The “What If” analysis is applicablein research and heuristic situations that utilize statistical significance testing. One utility for the “What If” is in a pedagogical perspective; the “What If” analysis provides professors an interactive tool that visually represents examples of what statistical significance testing entails and the variables that affect the commonly misinterpreted p_CALCULATED value. In order to develop a strong understanding of what affects the p_CALCULATED value, the students tangibly manipulate data within the Excel sheet to create a visualize representation that explicitly demonstrates how variables affect the p_CALCULATED value. The second utility is primarily applicable to researchers. “What If” analysis contributes to research in two ways: (1) a “What If” analysis can be run a priori to estimate the sample size a researcher may wish to use for his study; and (2) a “What If” analysis can be run a posteriori to aid in the interpretation of results. If used, the “What If” analysis provides researchers with another utility that enables them to conduct high-quality research and disseminate their results in an accurate manner.

KEYWORDS:

• Power analysis
• Null hypothesis testing
• Statistics education research
• What If analysis.

Notes