Hypothesis Testing

Definition

Hypothesis testing is a statistical method used to determine whether a claim or hypothesis about a population parameter is likely to be true or false based on sample data. It involves formulating a null hypothesis and an alternative hypothesis, collecting and analyzing sample data, and making a decision to either reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. Hypothesis testing is a fundamental concept in statistical inference and is used to make decisions about population parameters based on sample data.
2. The process of hypothesis testing involves setting up a null hypothesis and an alternative hypothesis, calculating a test statistic, and comparing the test statistic to a critical value to determine the p-value.
3. The p-value is the probability of obtaining a test statistic as extreme or more extreme than the observed value, assuming the null hypothesis is true.
4. If the p-value is less than the chosen significance level (usually 0.05), the null hypothesis is rejected, and the alternative hypothesis is accepted.
5. Hypothesis testing is used in a variety of statistical analyses, including tests for a single population mean, a single population proportion, the difference between two population means, the difference between two population proportions, and more.

Review Questions

• Explain how hypothesis testing is used in the context of the Central Limit Theorem (Pocket Change) topic.
  • In the Central Limit Theorem (Pocket Change) topic, hypothesis testing is used to make inferences about the mean amount of pocket change carried by a population. The null hypothesis might be that the population mean pocket change is $5, while the alternative hypothesis could be that the population mean pocket change is different from $5. By collecting a random sample of pocket change amounts and calculating a test statistic, such as a z-score or t-statistic, the researcher can determine whether to reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis and draw conclusions about the true population mean.
• Describe how hypothesis testing is used in the context of testing a single population proportion.
  • When testing a single population proportion, hypothesis testing is used to determine whether the true proportion in the population is equal to a hypothesized value. The null hypothesis might state that the population proportion is equal to a certain value, while the alternative hypothesis could claim that the population proportion is different from that value. By calculating a test statistic, such as a z-score, and comparing it to a critical value or p-value, the researcher can decide whether to reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis and make inferences about the true population proportion.
• Analyze how hypothesis testing is used in the context of testing the independence of two variables.
  • In the Test of Independence topic, hypothesis testing is used to determine whether two categorical variables are independent or related. The null hypothesis states that the two variables are independent, while the alternative hypothesis claims that the variables are dependent or associated. By calculating a test statistic, such as a chi-square statistic, and comparing it to a critical value or p-value, the researcher can decide whether to reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis of independence. This allows the researcher to draw conclusions about the relationship between the two variables in the population.

Related terms

Null Hypothesis: The null hypothesis (denoted as H0) is a statement that there is no significant difference or relationship between the variables being studied.

Alternative Hypothesis:

The alternative hypothesis (denoted as H1 or Ha) is a statement that there is a significant difference or relationship between the variables being studied.

Test Statistic:

The test statistic is a numerical value calculated from the sample data that is used to determine whether to reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis.