Question: Which of the following is the first step in hypothesis testing?
A Conducting data analysis
B Formulating a null hypothesis (H0) and an alternative hypothesis (H1)
C Collecting data
D Calculating the test statistic
Answer: Formulating a null hypothesis (H0) and an alternative hypothesis (H1)
Steps |
Description |
1 |
State the Null Hypothesis |
· Formulate a null hypothesis (H0) that represents no difference. |
2 |
State the Alternative Hypothesis |
· Formulate an alternative hypothesis (H1) that represents the statement you want to test. |
2 |
Collect Data |
· Collect the relevant data through observations, experiments and surveys. |
3 |
Set Significance level (α) |
· Significance level (α) represents the threshold for considering results statistically significant.
· Common values for α include 0.05 and 0.01, indicating the probability of making a Type I error (false positive). |
4 |
Calculate a test statistic |
· Perform a statistical test that corresponds to the hypothesis being tested e.g., t-test, chi-squared test, ANOVA.
· Calculate the test statistic and determine the p-value associated with the test. |
5 |
Analyzing the results |
· Compare the p-value to the chosen significance level (α).
· If p ≤ α, the results are statistically significant.
· If p > α, the results are not statistically significant, and you fail to reject the null hypothesis. |
6 |
Making a decision |
· If p ≤ α, reject the null hypothesis in favor of the alternative hypothesis (H1).
· If p > α, fail to reject the null hypothesis as there is not enough evidence to support the alternative hypothesis. |
7 |
Draw Conclusions |
· Report the results, including the test statistic, p-value and whether the null hypothesis was rejected or not. |