Hypothesis Testing

Hypothesis testing is the statistical assessment of a statement on a population. Hypothesis testing procedures help determine whether a hypothesis is a reasonable statement that shouldn't be rejected or a stupid idea that should be tossed out ASAP.

Hypothesis Testing Procedure

  1. State your hypothesis
  2. Select appropriate test statistic
  3. Specify level of signifcance
  4. State decision rule regarding hypothesis
  5. Collect sample and calculate sample statistics
  6. Make decision regarding hypothesis
  7. Make decision based on results of test

Null And Alternatitive Hypotheses

The null hypothesis, H0, is the hypothesis that a researcher wants to reject. The alternative hypothesis, Ha, is what is concluded if sufficient evidence rejects the null hypothesis.

Test Statistic

If the test statistic exceeds the critical value (or is outside the range of critical values) the researcher rejects the null.

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