...Description of Data Set

This data was collected at an academic, outpatient medical center in Pittsburgh, PA.

These patients were evaluated by a physical therapist and then treated for 4-6 weeks. The

following measures are included in this data set:

Age - the number of years at the time of the evaluation

Sex - self-explanatory (1 = male, 2 = female)

Diagnosis - area of spine for which being treated and evaluated (1 = cervical, 2 =

lumbar, 3 = thoracic)

Onset - a description of how symptoms started (1 = sudden, 2 = gradual)

Acuity - how long the patient has been experiencing the symptoms (1 = acute, 2

= chronic)

Fear Activity - how much the patient fears activity due to his/her spine pain

(range 0 - 24, higher numbers mean more fear of activity)

Fear Work - how much the patient fears work due to his/her spine pain (range 0

- 42, higher number mean more fear of work)

Initial Disability - how much interference with daily activities the patient is

experiencing before treatment (0 - 100, higher number indicates more

interference with daily activity)

Final Disability - how much interference with daily activities the patient is

experiencing after treatment (0 - 100, higher number indicates more interference

with daily activity)

Initial Pain - how much pain the patient is experiencing before treatment (0 - 10,

higher number indicates more pain)

Final Pain - how much pain the patient is experiencing after treatment (0 - 10,

higher number indicates more pain)

Questions

5. A researcher is interested in exploring the associations between pain and disability. Specifically, he is interested in (separate research questions):

a) the association between initial pain and initial disability and

b) whether initial pain predicts disability after treatment.

Write an appropriate null hypothesis for both research questions (a and b).

6. This researcher is also interested in exploring differences in initial disability for patients with lumbar spine pain compared to those with cervical spine pain.

Write an appropriate null hypothesis for this research question.