hypothesis testing examples statistics

• Skip to secondary menu
• Skip to main content
• Skip to primary sidebar

Statistics By Jim

Making statistics intuitive

Statistical Hypothesis Testing Overview

By Jim Frost 59 Comments

In this blog post, I explain why you need to use statistical hypothesis testing and help you navigate the essential terminology. Hypothesis testing is a crucial procedure to perform when you want to make inferences about a population using a random sample. These inferences include estimating population properties such as the mean, differences between means, proportions, and the relationships between variables.

This post provides an overview of statistical hypothesis testing. If you need to perform hypothesis tests, consider getting my book, Hypothesis Testing: An Intuitive Guide .

Why You Should Perform Statistical Hypothesis Testing

Hypothesis testing is a form of inferential statistics that allows us to draw conclusions about an entire population based on a representative sample. You gain tremendous benefits by working with a sample. In most cases, it is simply impossible to observe the entire population to understand its properties. The only alternative is to collect a random sample and then use statistics to analyze it.

While samples are much more practical and less expensive to work with, there are trade-offs. When you estimate the properties of a population from a sample, the sample statistics are unlikely to equal the actual population value exactly.  For instance, your sample mean is unlikely to equal the population mean. The difference between the sample statistic and the population value is the sample error.

Differences that researchers observe in samples might be due to sampling error rather than representing a true effect at the population level. If sampling error causes the observed difference, the next time someone performs the same experiment the results might be different. Hypothesis testing incorporates estimates of the sampling error to help you make the correct decision. Learn more about Sampling Error .

For example, if you are studying the proportion of defects produced by two manufacturing methods, any difference you observe between the two sample proportions might be sample error rather than a true difference. If the difference does not exist at the population level, you won’t obtain the benefits that you expect based on the sample statistics. That can be a costly mistake!

Let’s cover some basic hypothesis testing terms that you need to know.

Background information : Difference between Descriptive and Inferential Statistics and Populations, Parameters, and Samples in Inferential Statistics

Hypothesis Testing

Hypothesis testing is a statistical analysis that uses sample data to assess two mutually exclusive theories about the properties of a population. Statisticians call these theories the null hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis. A hypothesis test assesses your sample statistic and factors in an estimate of the sample error to determine which hypothesis the data support.

When you can reject the null hypothesis, the results are statistically significant, and your data support the theory that an effect exists at the population level.

The effect is the difference between the population value and the null hypothesis value. The effect is also known as population effect or the difference. For example, the mean difference between the health outcome for a treatment group and a control group is the effect.

Typically, you do not know the size of the actual effect. However, you can use a hypothesis test to help you determine whether an effect exists and to estimate its size. Hypothesis tests convert your sample effect into a test statistic, which it evaluates for statistical significance. Learn more about Test Statistics .

An effect can be statistically significant, but that doesn’t necessarily indicate that it is important in a real-world, practical sense. For more information, read my post about Statistical vs. Practical Significance .

Null Hypothesis

The null hypothesis is one of two mutually exclusive theories about the properties of the population in hypothesis testing. Typically, the null hypothesis states that there is no effect (i.e., the effect size equals zero). The null is often signified by H 0 .

In all hypothesis testing, the researchers are testing an effect of some sort. The effect can be the effectiveness of a new vaccination, the durability of a new product, the proportion of defect in a manufacturing process, and so on. There is some benefit or difference that the researchers hope to identify.

However, it’s possible that there is no effect or no difference between the experimental groups. In statistics, we call this lack of an effect the null hypothesis. Therefore, if you can reject the null, you can favor the alternative hypothesis, which states that the effect exists (doesn’t equal zero) at the population level.

You can think of the null as the default theory that requires sufficiently strong evidence against in order to reject it.

For example, in a 2-sample t-test, the null often states that the difference between the two means equals zero.

When you can reject the null hypothesis, your results are statistically significant. Learn more about Statistical Significance: Definition & Meaning .

Related post : Understanding the Null Hypothesis in More Detail

Alternative Hypothesis

The alternative hypothesis is the other theory about the properties of the population in hypothesis testing. Typically, the alternative hypothesis states that a population parameter does not equal the null hypothesis value. In other words, there is a non-zero effect. If your sample contains sufficient evidence, you can reject the null and favor the alternative hypothesis. The alternative is often identified with H 1 or H A .

For example, in a 2-sample t-test, the alternative often states that the difference between the two means does not equal zero.

You can specify either a one- or two-tailed alternative hypothesis:

If you perform a two-tailed hypothesis test, the alternative states that the population parameter does not equal the null value. For example, when the alternative hypothesis is H A : μ ≠ 0, the test can detect differences both greater than and less than the null value.

A one-tailed alternative has more power to detect an effect but it can test for a difference in only one direction. For example, H A : μ > 0 can only test for differences that are greater than zero.

Related posts : Understanding T-tests and One-Tailed and Two-Tailed Hypothesis Tests Explained

P-values are the probability that you would obtain the effect observed in your sample, or larger, if the null hypothesis is correct. In simpler terms, p-values tell you how strongly your sample data contradict the null. Lower p-values represent stronger evidence against the null. You use P-values in conjunction with the significance level to determine whether your data favor the null or alternative hypothesis.

Related post : Interpreting P-values Correctly

Significance Level (Alpha)

For instance, a significance level of 0.05 signifies a 5% risk of deciding that an effect exists when it does not exist.

Use p-values and significance levels together to help you determine which hypothesis the data support. If the p-value is less than your significance level, you can reject the null and conclude that the effect is statistically significant. In other words, the evidence in your sample is strong enough to be able to reject the null hypothesis at the population level.

Related posts : Graphical Approach to Significance Levels and P-values and Conceptual Approach to Understanding Significance Levels

Types of Errors in Hypothesis Testing

Statistical hypothesis tests are not 100% accurate because they use a random sample to draw conclusions about entire populations. There are two types of errors related to drawing an incorrect conclusion.

• False positives: You reject a null that is true. Statisticians call this a Type I error . The Type I error rate equals your significance level or alpha (α).
• False negatives: You fail to reject a null that is false. Statisticians call this a Type II error. Generally, you do not know the Type II error rate. However, it is a larger risk when you have a small sample size , noisy data, or a small effect size. The type II error rate is also known as beta (β).

Statistical power is the probability that a hypothesis test correctly infers that a sample effect exists in the population. In other words, the test correctly rejects a false null hypothesis. Consequently, power is inversely related to a Type II error. Power = 1 – β. Learn more about Power in Statistics .

Related posts : Types of Errors in Hypothesis Testing and Estimating a Good Sample Size for Your Study Using Power Analysis

Which Type of Hypothesis Test is Right for You?

There are many different types of procedures you can use. The correct choice depends on your research goals and the data you collect. Do you need to understand the mean or the differences between means? Or, perhaps you need to assess proportions. You can even use hypothesis testing to determine whether the relationships between variables are statistically significant.

To choose the proper statistical procedure, you’ll need to assess your study objectives and collect the correct type of data . This background research is necessary before you begin a study.

Related Post : Hypothesis Tests for Continuous, Binary, and Count Data

Statistical tests are crucial when you want to use sample data to make conclusions about a population because these tests account for sample error. Using significance levels and p-values to determine when to reject the null hypothesis improves the probability that you will draw the correct conclusion.

To see an alternative approach to these traditional hypothesis testing methods, learn about bootstrapping in statistics !

If you want to see examples of hypothesis testing in action, I recommend the following posts that I have written:

• How Effective Are Flu Shots? This example shows how you can use statistics to test proportions.
• Fatality Rates in Star Trek . This example shows how to use hypothesis testing with categorical data.
• Busting Myths About the Battle of the Sexes . A fun example based on a Mythbusters episode that assess continuous data using several different tests.
• Are Yawns Contagious? Another fun example inspired by a Mythbusters episode.

Share this:

Reader Interactions

January 14, 2024 at 8:43 am

Hello professor Jim, how are you doing! Pls. What are the properties of a population and their examples? Thanks for your time and understanding.

January 14, 2024 at 12:57 pm

Please read my post about Populations vs. Samples for more information and examples.

Also, please note there is a search bar in the upper-right margin of my website. Use that to search for topics.

July 5, 2023 at 7:05 am

Hello, I have a question as I read your post. You say in p-values section

“P-values are the probability that you would obtain the effect observed in your sample, or larger, if the null hypothesis is correct. In simpler terms, p-values tell you how strongly your sample data contradict the null. Lower p-values represent stronger evidence against the null.”

But according to your definition of effect, the null states that an effect does not exist, correct? So what I assume you want to say is that “P-values are the probability that you would obtain the effect observed in your sample, or larger, if the null hypothesis is **incorrect**.”

July 6, 2023 at 5:18 am

Hi Shrinivas,

The correct definition of p-value is that it is a probability that exists in the context of a true null hypothesis. So, the quotation is correct in stating “if the null hypothesis is correct.”

Essentially, the p-value tells you the likelihood of your observed results (or more extreme) if the null hypothesis is true. It gives you an idea of whether your results are surprising or unusual if there is no effect.

Hence, with sufficiently low p-values, you reject the null hypothesis because it’s telling you that your sample results were unlikely to have occurred if there was no effect in the population.

I hope that helps make it more clear. If not, let me know I’ll attempt to clarify!

May 8, 2023 at 12:47 am

Thanks a lot Ny best regards

May 7, 2023 at 11:15 pm

Hi Jim Can you tell me something about size effect? Thanks

May 8, 2023 at 12:29 am

Here’s a post that I’ve written about Effect Sizes that will hopefully tell you what you need to know. Please read that. Then, if you have any more specific questions about effect sizes, please post them there. Thanks!

January 7, 2023 at 4:19 pm

Hi Jim, I have only read two pages so far but I am really amazed because in few paragraphs you made me clearly understand the concepts of months of courses I received in biostatistics! Thanks so much for this work you have done it helps a lot!

January 10, 2023 at 3:25 pm

Thanks so much!

June 17, 2021 at 1:45 pm

Can you help in the following question: Rocinante36 is priced at ₹7 lakh and has been designed to deliver a mileage of 22 km/litre and a top speed of 140 km/hr. Formulate the null and alternative hypotheses for mileage and top speed to check whether the new models are performing as per the desired design specifications.

April 19, 2021 at 1:51 pm

Its indeed great to read your work statistics.

I have a doubt regarding the one sample t-test. So as per your book on hypothesis testing with reference to page no 45, you have mentioned the difference between “the sample mean and the hypothesised mean is statistically significant”. So as per my understanding it should be quoted like “the difference between the population mean and the hypothesised mean is statistically significant”. The catch here is the hypothesised mean represents the sample mean.

Please help me understand this.

Regards Rajat

April 19, 2021 at 3:46 pm

Thanks for buying my book. I’m so glad it’s been helpful!

The test is performed on the sample but the results apply to the population. Hence, if the difference between the sample mean (observed in your study) and the hypothesized mean is statistically significant, that suggests that population does not equal the hypothesized mean.

For one sample tests, the hypothesized mean is not the sample mean. It is a mean that you want to use for the test value. It usually represents a value that is important to your research. In other words, it’s a value that you pick for some theoretical/practical reasons. You pick it because you want to determine whether the population mean is different from that particular value.

I hope that helps!

November 5, 2020 at 6:24 am

Jim, you are such a magnificent statistician/economist/econometrician/data scientist etc whatever profession. Your work inspires and simplifies the lives of so many researchers around the world. I truly admire you and your work. I will buy a copy of each book you have on statistics or econometrics. Keep doing the good work. Remain ever blessed

November 6, 2020 at 9:47 pm

Hi Renatus,

Thanks so much for you very kind comments. You made my day!! I’m so glad that my website has been helpful. And, thanks so much for supporting my books! 🙂

November 2, 2020 at 9:32 pm

Hi Jim, I hope you are aware of 2019 American Statistical Association’s official statement on Statistical Significance: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00031305.2019.1583913 In case you do not bother reading the full article, may I quote you the core message here: “We conclude, based on our review of the articles in this special issue and the broader literature, that it is time to stop using the term “statistically significant” entirely. Nor should variants such as “significantly different,” “p < 0.05,” and “nonsignificant” survive, whether expressed in words, by asterisks in a table, or in some other way."

With best wishes,

November 3, 2020 at 2:09 am

I’m definitely aware of the debate surrounding how to use p-values most effectively. However, I need to correct you on one point. The link you provide is NOT a statement by the American Statistical Association. It is an editorial by several authors.

There is considerable debate over this issue. There are problems with p-values. However, as the authors state themselves, much of the problem is over people’s mindsets about how to use p-values and their incorrect interpretations about what statistical significance does and does not mean.

If you were to read my website more thoroughly, you’d be aware that I share many of their concerns and I address them in multiple posts. One of the authors’ key points is the need to be thoughtful and conduct thoughtful research and analysis. I emphasize this aspect in multiple posts on this topic. I’ll ask you to read the following three because they all address some of the authors’ concerns and suggestions. But you might run across others to read as well.

Five Tips for Using P-values to Avoid Being Misled How to Interpret P-values Correctly P-values and the Reproducibility of Experimental Results

September 24, 2020 at 11:52 pm

HI Jim, i just want you to know that you made explanation for Statistics so simple! I should say lesser and fewer words that reduce the complexity. All the best! 🙂

September 25, 2020 at 1:03 am

Thanks, Rene! Your kind words mean a lot to me! I’m so glad it has been helpful!

September 23, 2020 at 2:21 am

Honestly, I never understood stats during my entire M.Ed course and was another nightmare for me. But how easily you have explained each concept, I have understood stats way beyond my imagination. Thank you so much for helping ignorant research scholars like us. Looking forward to get hardcopy of your book. Kindly tell is it available through flipkart?

September 24, 2020 at 11:14 pm

I’m so happy to hear that my website has been helpful!

I checked on flipkart and it appears like my books are not available there. I’m never exactly sure where they’re available due to the vagaries of different distribution channels. They are available on Amazon in India.

Introduction to Statistics: An Intuitive Guide (Amazon IN) Hypothesis Testing: An Intuitive Guide (Amazon IN)

July 26, 2020 at 11:57 am

Dear Jim I am a teacher from India . I don’t have any background in statistics, and still I should tell that in a single read I can follow your explanations . I take my entire biostatistics class for botany graduates with your explanations. Thanks a lot. May I know how I can avail your books in India

July 28, 2020 at 12:31 am

Right now my books are only available as ebooks from my website. However, soon I’ll have some exciting news about other ways to obtain it. Stay tuned! I’ll announce it on my email list. If you’re not already on it, you can sign up using the form that is in the right margin of my website.

June 22, 2020 at 2:02 pm

Also can you please let me if this book covers topics like EDA and principal component analysis?

June 22, 2020 at 2:07 pm

This book doesn’t cover principal components analysis. Although, I wouldn’t really classify that as a hypothesis test. In the future, I might write a multivariate analysis book that would cover this and others. But, that’s well down the road.

My Introduction to Statistics covers EDA. That’s the largely graphical look at your data that you often do prior to hypothesis testing. The Introduction book perfectly leads right into the Hypothesis Testing book.

June 22, 2020 at 1:45 pm

Thanks for the detailed explanation. It does clear my doubts. I saw that your book related to hypothesis testing has the topics that I am studying currently. I am looking forward to purchasing it.

Regards, Take Care

June 19, 2020 at 1:03 pm

For this particular article I did not understand a couple of statements and it would great if you could help: 1)”If sample error causes the observed difference, the next time someone performs the same experiment the results might be different.” 2)”If the difference does not exist at the population level, you won’t obtain the benefits that you expect based on the sample statistics.”

I discovered your articles by chance and now I keep coming back to read & understand statistical concepts. These articles are very informative & easy to digest. Thanks for the simplifying things.

June 20, 2020 at 9:53 pm

I’m so happy to hear that you’ve found my website to be helpful!

To answer your questions, keep in mind that a central tenant of inferential statistics is that the random sample that a study drew was only one of an infinite number of possible it could’ve drawn. Each random sample produces different results. Most results will cluster around the population value assuming they used good methodology. However, random sampling error always exists and makes it so that population estimates from a sample almost never exactly equal the correct population value.

So, imagine that we’re studying a medication and comparing the treatment and control groups. Suppose that the medicine is truly not effect and that the population difference between the treatment and control group is zero (i.e., no difference.) Despite the true difference being zero, most sample estimates will show some degree of either a positive or negative effect thanks to random sampling error. So, just because a study has an observed difference does not mean that a difference exists at the population level. So, on to your questions:

1. If the observed difference is just random error, then it makes sense that if you collected another random sample, the difference could change. It could change from negative to positive, positive to negative, more extreme, less extreme, etc. However, if the difference exists at the population level, most random samples drawn from the population will reflect that difference. If the medicine has an effect, most random samples will reflect that fact and not bounce around on both sides of zero as much.

2. This is closely related to the previous answer. If there is no difference at the population level, but say you approve the medicine because of the observed effects in a sample. Even though your random sample showed an effect (which was really random error), that effect doesn’t exist. So, when you start using it on a larger scale, people won’t benefit from the medicine. That’s why it’s important to separate out what is easily explained by random error versus what is not easily explained by it.

I think reading my post about how hypothesis tests work will help clarify this process. Also, in about 24 hours (as I write this), I’ll be releasing my new ebook about Hypothesis Testing!

May 29, 2020 at 5:23 am

Hi Jim, I really enjoy your blog. Can you please link me on your blog where you discuss about Subgroup analysis and how it is done? I need to use non parametric and parametric statistical methods for my work and also do subgroup analysis in order to identify potential groups of patients that may benefit more from using a treatment than other groups.

May 29, 2020 at 2:12 pm

Hi, I don’t have a specific article about subgroup analysis. However, subgroup analysis is just the dividing up of a larger sample into subgroups and then analyzing those subgroups separately. You can use the various analyses I write about on the subgroups.

Alternatively, you can include the subgroups in regression analysis as an indicator variable and include that variable as a main effect and an interaction effect to see how the relationships vary by subgroup without needing to subdivide your data. I write about that approach in my article about comparing regression lines . This approach is my preferred approach when possible.

April 19, 2020 at 7:58 am

sir is confidence interval is a part of estimation?

April 17, 2020 at 3:36 pm

Sir can u plz briefly explain alternatives of hypothesis testing? I m unable to find the answer

April 18, 2020 at 1:22 am

Assuming you want to draw conclusions about populations by using samples (i.e., inferential statistics ), you can use confidence intervals and bootstrap methods as alternatives to the traditional hypothesis testing methods.

March 9, 2020 at 10:01 pm

Hi JIm, could you please help with activities that can best teach concepts of hypothesis testing through simulation, Also, do you have any question set that would enhance students intuition why learning hypothesis testing as a topic in introductory statistics. Thanks.

March 5, 2020 at 3:48 pm

Hi Jim, I’m studying multiple hypothesis testing & was wondering if you had any material that would be relevant. I’m more trying to understand how testing multiple samples simultaneously affects your results & more on the Bonferroni Correction

March 5, 2020 at 4:05 pm

I write about multiple comparisons (aka post hoc tests) in the ANOVA context . I don’t talk about Bonferroni Corrections specifically but I cover related types of corrections. I’m not sure if that exactly addresses what you want to know but is probably the closest I have already written. I hope it helps!

January 14, 2020 at 9:03 pm

Thank you! Have a great day/evening.

January 13, 2020 at 7:10 pm

Any help would be greatly appreciated. What is the difference between The Hypothesis Test and The Statistical Test of Hypothesis?

January 14, 2020 at 11:02 am

They sound like the same thing to me. Unless this is specialized terminology for a particular field or the author was intending something specific, I’d guess they’re one and the same.

April 1, 2019 at 10:00 am

so these are the only two forms of Hypothesis used in statistical testing?

April 1, 2019 at 10:02 am

Are you referring to the null and alternative hypothesis? If so, yes, that’s those are the standard hypotheses in a statistical hypothesis test.

April 1, 2019 at 9:57 am

year very insightful post, thanks for the write up

October 27, 2018 at 11:09 pm

hi there, am upcoming statistician, out of all blogs that i have read, i have found this one more useful as long as my problem is concerned. thanks so much

October 27, 2018 at 11:14 pm

Hi Stano, you’re very welcome! Thanks for your kind words. They mean a lot! I’m happy to hear that my posts were able to help you. I’m sure you will be a fantastic statistician. Best of luck with your studies!

October 26, 2018 at 11:39 am

Dear Jim, thank you very much for your explanations! I have a question. Can I use t-test to compare two samples in case each of them have right bias?

October 26, 2018 at 12:00 pm

Hi Tetyana,

You’re very welcome!

The term “right bias” is not a standard term. Do you by chance mean right skewed distributions? In other words, if you plot the distribution for each group on a histogram they have longer right tails? These are not the symmetrical bell-shape curves of the normal distribution.

If that’s the case, yes you can as long as you exceed a specific sample size within each group. I include a table that contains these sample size requirements in my post about nonparametric vs parametric analyses .

Bias in statistics refers to cases where an estimate of a value is systematically higher or lower than the true value. If this is the case, you might be able to use t-tests, but you’d need to be sure to understand the nature of the bias so you would understand what the results are really indicating.

I hope this helps!

April 2, 2018 at 7:28 am

Simple and upto the point 👍 Thank you so much.

April 2, 2018 at 11:11 am

Hi Kalpana, thanks! And I’m glad it was helpful!

March 26, 2018 at 8:41 am

Am I correct if I say: Alpha – Probability of wrongly rejection of null hypothesis P-value – Probability of wrongly acceptance of null hypothesis

March 28, 2018 at 3:14 pm

You’re correct about alpha. Alpha is the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis when the null is true.

Unfortunately, your definition of the p-value is a bit off. The p-value has a fairly convoluted definition. It is the probability of obtaining the effect observed in a sample, or more extreme, if the null hypothesis is true. The p-value does NOT indicate the probability that either the null or alternative is true or false. Although, those are very common misinterpretations. To learn more, read my post about how to interpret p-values correctly .

March 2, 2018 at 6:10 pm

I recently started reading your blog and it is very helpful to understand each concept of statistical tests in easy way with some good examples. Also, I recommend to other people go through all these blogs which you posted. Specially for those people who have not statistical background and they are facing to many problems while studying statistical analysis.

Thank you for your such good blogs.

March 3, 2018 at 10:12 pm

Hi Amit, I’m so glad that my blog posts have been helpful for you! It means a lot to me that you took the time to write such a nice comment! Also, thanks for recommending by blog to others! I try really hard to write posts about statistics that are easy to understand.

January 17, 2018 at 7:03 am

I recently started reading your blog and I find it very interesting. I am learning statistics by my own, and I generally do many google search to understand the concepts. So this blog is quite helpful for me, as it have most of the content which I am looking for.

January 17, 2018 at 3:56 pm

Hi Shashank, thank you! And, I’m very glad to hear that my blog is helpful!

January 2, 2018 at 2:28 pm

thank u very much sir.

January 2, 2018 at 2:36 pm

You’re very welcome, Hiral!

November 21, 2017 at 12:43 pm

Thank u so much sir….your posts always helps me to be a #statistician

November 21, 2017 at 2:40 pm

Hi Sachin, you’re very welcome! I’m happy that you find my posts to be helpful!

November 19, 2017 at 8:22 pm

great post as usual, but it would be nice to see an example.

November 19, 2017 at 8:27 pm

Thank you! At the end of this post, I have links to four other posts that show examples of hypothesis tests in action. You’ll find what you’re looking for in those posts!

Comments and Questions Cancel reply

Hypothesis Testing – A Deep Dive into Hypothesis Testing, The Backbone of Statistical Inference

• September 21, 2023

Explore the intricacies of hypothesis testing, a cornerstone of statistical analysis. Dive into methods, interpretations, and applications for making data-driven decisions.

In this Blog post we will learn:

• What is Hypothesis Testing?
• Steps in Hypothesis Testing 2.1. Set up Hypotheses: Null and Alternative 2.2. Choose a Significance Level (α) 2.3. Calculate a test statistic and P-Value 2.4. Make a Decision
• Example : Testing a new drug.
• Example in python

1. What is Hypothesis Testing?

In simple terms, hypothesis testing is a method used to make decisions or inferences about population parameters based on sample data. Imagine being handed a dice and asked if it’s biased. By rolling it a few times and analyzing the outcomes, you’d be engaging in the essence of hypothesis testing.

Think of hypothesis testing as the scientific method of the statistics world. Suppose you hear claims like “This new drug works wonders!” or “Our new website design boosts sales.” How do you know if these statements hold water? Enter hypothesis testing.

2. Steps in Hypothesis Testing

• Set up Hypotheses : Begin with a null hypothesis (H0) and an alternative hypothesis (Ha).
• Choose a Significance Level (α) : Typically 0.05, this is the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis when it’s actually true. Think of it as the chance of accusing an innocent person.
• Calculate Test statistic and P-Value : Gather evidence (data) and calculate a test statistic.
• p-value : This is the probability of observing the data, given that the null hypothesis is true. A small p-value (typically ≤ 0.05) suggests the data is inconsistent with the null hypothesis.
• Decision Rule : If the p-value is less than or equal to α, you reject the null hypothesis in favor of the alternative.

2.1. Set up Hypotheses: Null and Alternative

Before diving into testing, we must formulate hypotheses. The null hypothesis (H0) represents the default assumption, while the alternative hypothesis (H1) challenges it.

For instance, in drug testing, H0 : “The new drug is no better than the existing one,” H1 : “The new drug is superior .”

2.2. Choose a Significance Level (α)

When You collect and analyze data to test H0 and H1 hypotheses. Based on your analysis, you decide whether to reject the null hypothesis in favor of the alternative, or fail to reject / Accept the null hypothesis.

The significance level, often denoted by $α$, represents the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis when it is actually true.

In other words, it’s the risk you’re willing to take of making a Type I error (false positive).

Type I Error (False Positive) :

• Symbolized by the Greek letter alpha (α).
• Occurs when you incorrectly reject a true null hypothesis . In other words, you conclude that there is an effect or difference when, in reality, there isn’t.
• The probability of making a Type I error is denoted by the significance level of a test. Commonly, tests are conducted at the 0.05 significance level , which means there’s a 5% chance of making a Type I error .
• Commonly used significance levels are 0.01, 0.05, and 0.10, but the choice depends on the context of the study and the level of risk one is willing to accept.

Example : If a drug is not effective (truth), but a clinical trial incorrectly concludes that it is effective (based on the sample data), then a Type I error has occurred.

Type II Error (False Negative) :

• Symbolized by the Greek letter beta (β).
• Occurs when you accept a false null hypothesis . This means you conclude there is no effect or difference when, in reality, there is.
• The probability of making a Type II error is denoted by β. The power of a test (1 – β) represents the probability of correctly rejecting a false null hypothesis.

Example : If a drug is effective (truth), but a clinical trial incorrectly concludes that it is not effective (based on the sample data), then a Type II error has occurred.

Balancing the Errors :

In practice, there’s a trade-off between Type I and Type II errors. Reducing the risk of one typically increases the risk of the other. For example, if you want to decrease the probability of a Type I error (by setting a lower significance level), you might increase the probability of a Type II error unless you compensate by collecting more data or making other adjustments.

It’s essential to understand the consequences of both types of errors in any given context. In some situations, a Type I error might be more severe, while in others, a Type II error might be of greater concern. This understanding guides researchers in designing their experiments and choosing appropriate significance levels.

2.3. Calculate a test statistic and P-Value

Test statistic : A test statistic is a single number that helps us understand how far our sample data is from what we’d expect under a null hypothesis (a basic assumption we’re trying to test against). Generally, the larger the test statistic, the more evidence we have against our null hypothesis. It helps us decide whether the differences we observe in our data are due to random chance or if there’s an actual effect.

P-value : The P-value tells us how likely we would get our observed results (or something more extreme) if the null hypothesis were true. It’s a value between 0 and 1. – A smaller P-value (typically below 0.05) means that the observation is rare under the null hypothesis, so we might reject the null hypothesis. – A larger P-value suggests that what we observed could easily happen by random chance, so we might not reject the null hypothesis.

2.4. Make a Decision

Relationship between $α$ and P-Value

When conducting a hypothesis test:

• We first choose a significance level ($α$), which sets a threshold for making decisions.

We then calculate the p-value from our sample data and the test statistic.

Finally, we compare the p-value to our chosen $α$:

• If $p−value≤α$: We reject the null hypothesis in favor of the alternative hypothesis. The result is said to be statistically significant.
• If $p−value>α$: We fail to reject the null hypothesis. There isn’t enough statistical evidence to support the alternative hypothesis.

3. Example : Testing a new drug.

Imagine we are investigating whether a new drug is effective at treating headaches faster than drug B.

Setting Up the Experiment : You gather 100 people who suffer from headaches. Half of them (50 people) are given the new drug (let’s call this the ‘Drug Group’), and the other half are given a sugar pill, which doesn’t contain any medication.

• Set up Hypotheses : Before starting, you make a prediction:
• Null Hypothesis (H0): The new drug has no effect. Any difference in healing time between the two groups is just due to random chance.
• Alternative Hypothesis (H1): The new drug does have an effect. The difference in healing time between the two groups is significant and not just by chance.
• Choose a Significance Level (α) : Typically 0.05, this is the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis when it’s actually true

Calculate Test statistic and P-Value : After the experiment, you analyze the data. The “test statistic” is a number that helps you understand the difference between the two groups in terms of standard units.

For instance, let’s say:

• The average healing time in the Drug Group is 2 hours.
• The average healing time in the Placebo Group is 3 hours.

The test statistic helps you understand how significant this 1-hour difference is. If the groups are large and the spread of healing times in each group is small, then this difference might be significant. But if there’s a huge variation in healing times, the 1-hour difference might not be so special.

Imagine the P-value as answering this question: “If the new drug had NO real effect, what’s the probability that I’d see a difference as extreme (or more extreme) as the one I found, just by random chance?”

For instance:

• P-value of 0.01 means there’s a 1% chance that the observed difference (or a more extreme difference) would occur if the drug had no effect. That’s pretty rare, so we might consider the drug effective.
• P-value of 0.5 means there’s a 50% chance you’d see this difference just by chance. That’s pretty high, so we might not be convinced the drug is doing much.
• If the P-value is less than ($α$) 0.05: the results are “statistically significant,” and they might reject the null hypothesis , believing the new drug has an effect.
• If the P-value is greater than ($α$) 0.05: the results are not statistically significant, and they don’t reject the null hypothesis , remaining unsure if the drug has a genuine effect.

4. Example in python

For simplicity, let’s say we’re using a t-test (common for comparing means). Let’s dive into Python:

Making a Decision : “The results are statistically significant! p-value < 0.05 , The drug seems to have an effect!” If not, we’d say, “Looks like the drug isn’t as miraculous as we thought.”

5. Conclusion

Hypothesis testing is an indispensable tool in data science, allowing us to make data-driven decisions with confidence. By understanding its principles, conducting tests properly, and considering real-world applications, you can harness the power of hypothesis testing to unlock valuable insights from your data.

More Articles

F statistic formula – explained, correlation – connecting the dots, the role of correlation in data analysis, sampling and sampling distributions – a comprehensive guide on sampling and sampling distributions, law of large numbers – a deep dive into the world of statistics, central limit theorem – a deep dive into central limit theorem and its significance in statistics, similar articles, complete introduction to linear regression in r, how to implement common statistical significance tests and find the p value, logistic regression – a complete tutorial with examples in r.

Subscribe to Machine Learning Plus for high value data science content

© Machinelearningplus. All rights reserved.

Machine Learning A-Z™: Hands-On Python & R In Data Science

Free sample videos:.

9.4 Full Hypothesis Test Examples

Tests on means, example 9.8.

Jeffrey, as an eight-year old, established a mean time of 16.43 seconds for swimming the 25-yard freestyle, with a standard deviation of 0.8 seconds . His dad, Frank, thought that Jeffrey could swim the 25-yard freestyle faster using goggles. Frank bought Jeffrey a new pair of expensive goggles and timed Jeffrey for 15 25-yard freestyle swims . For the 15 swims, Jeffrey's mean time was 16 seconds. Frank thought that the goggles helped Jeffrey to swim faster than the 16.43 seconds. Conduct a hypothesis test using a preset α = 0.05. Assume that the swim times for the 25-yard freestyle are normal.

Set up the Hypothesis Test:

Since the problem is about a mean, this is a test of a single population mean .

H 0 : μ = 16.43   H a : μ < 16.43

For Jeffrey to swim faster, his time will be less than 16.43 seconds. The "<" tells you this is left-tailed.

Determine the distribution needed:

Random variable: X ¯ X ¯ = the mean time to swim the 25-yard freestyle.

Distribution for the test: X ¯ X ¯ is normal (population standard deviation is known: σ = 0.8)

X ¯ ~ N ( μ , σ X n ) X ¯ ~ N ( μ , σ X n ) Therefore, X ¯ ~ N ( 16.43 , 0.8 15 ) X ¯ ~ N ( 16.43 , 0.8 15 )

μ = 16.43 comes from H 0 and not the data. σ = 0.8, and n = 15.

Calculate the p -value using the normal distribution for a mean:

p -value = P ( x ¯ x ¯ < 16) = 0.0187 where the sample mean in the problem is given as 16.

p -value = 0.0187 (This is called the actual level of significance .) The p -value is the area to the left of the sample mean is given as 16.

μ = 16.43 comes from H 0 . Our assumption is μ = 16.43.

Interpretation of the p -value: If H 0 is true , there is a 0.0187 probability (1.87%)that Jeffrey's mean time to swim the 25-yard freestyle is 16 seconds or less. Because a 1.87% chance is small, the mean time of 16 seconds or less is unlikely to have happened randomly. It is a rare event.

Compare α and the p -value:

α = 0.05 p -value = 0.0187 α > p -value

Make a decision: Since α > α > p -value, reject H 0 .

This indicates that you reject the null hypothesis that the mean time to swim the 25-yard freestyle is at least 16.43 seconds.

Conclusion: At the 5% significance level, there is sufficient evidence that Jeffrey's mean time to swim the 25-yard freestyle is less than 16.43 seconds. Thus, based on the sample data, we conclude that Jeffrey swims faster using the new goggles.

The Type I and Type II errors for this problem are as follows: The Type I error is to conclude that Jeffrey swims the 25-yard freestyle, on average, in less than 16.43 seconds when, in fact, he actually swims the 25-yard freestyle, on average, in at least 16.43 seconds. (Reject the null hypothesis when the null hypothesis is true.)

The Type II error is that there is not evidence to conclude that Jeffrey swims the 25-yard freestyle, on average, in less than 16.43 seconds when, in fact, he actually does swim the 25-yard free-style, on average, in less than 16.43 seconds. (Do not reject the null hypothesis when the null hypothesis is false.)

The mean throwing distance of a football for Marco, a high school quarterback, is 40 yards, with a standard deviation of two yards. The team coach tells Marco to adjust his grip to get more distance. The coach records the distances for 20 throws. For the 20 throws, Marco’s mean distance was 45 yards. The coach thought the different grip helped Marco throw farther than 40 yards. Conduct a hypothesis test using a preset α = 0.05. Assume the throw distances for footballs are normal.

First, determine what type of test this is, set up the hypothesis test, find the p -value, sketch the graph, and state your conclusion.

Example 9.9

Jasmine has just begun her new job on the sales force of a very competitive company. In a sample of 16 sales calls it was found that she closed the contract for an average value of 108 dollars with a standard deviation of 12 dollars. Test at 5% significance that the population mean is at least 100 dollars against the alternative that it is less than 100 dollars. Company policy requires that new members of the sales force must exceed an average of $100 per contract during the trial employment period. Can we conclude that Jasmine has met this requirement at the significance level of 95%?

• H 0 : µ ≤ 100 H a : µ > 100 The null and alternative hypothesis are for the parameter µ because the number of dollars of the contracts is a continuous random variable. Also, this is a one-tailed test because the company has only an interested if the number of dollars per contact is below a particular number not "too high" a number. This can be thought of as making a claim that the requirement is being met and thus the claim is in the alternative hypothesis.
• Test statistic: t c = x ¯ − µ 0 s n = 108 − 100 ( 12 16 ) = 2.67 t c = x ¯ − µ 0 s n = 108 − 100 ( 12 16 ) = 2.67
• Critical value: t a = 1.753 t a = 1.753 with n-1 degrees of freedom= 15

The test statistic is a Student's t because the sample size is below 30; therefore, we cannot use the normal distribution. Comparing the calculated value of the test statistic and the critical value of t t ( t a ) ( t a ) at a 5% significance level, we see that the calculated value is in the tail of the distribution. Thus, we conclude that 108 dollars per contract is significantly larger than the hypothesized value of 100 and thus we cannot accept the null hypothesis. There is evidence that supports Jasmine's performance meets company standards.

It is believed that a stock price for a particular company will grow at a rate of $5 per week with a standard deviation of $1. An investor believes the stock won’t grow as quickly. The changes in stock price is recorded for ten weeks and are as follows: $4, $3, $2, $3, $1, $7, $2, $1, $1, $2. Perform a hypothesis test using a 5% level of significance. State the null and alternative hypotheses, state your conclusion, and identify the Type I errors.

Example 9.10

A manufacturer of salad dressings uses machines to dispense liquid ingredients into bottles that move along a filling line. The machine that dispenses salad dressings is working properly when 8 ounces are dispensed. Suppose that the average amount dispensed in a particular sample of 35 bottles is 7.91 ounces with a variance of 0.03 ounces squared, s 2 s 2 . Is there evidence that the machine should be stopped and production wait for repairs? The lost production from a shutdown is potentially so great that management feels that the level of significance in the analysis should be 99%.

Again we will follow the steps in our analysis of this problem.

STEP 1 : Set the Null and Alternative Hypothesis. The random variable is the quantity of fluid placed in the bottles. This is a continuous random variable and the parameter we are interested in is the mean. Our hypothesis therefore is about the mean. In this case we are concerned that the machine is not filling properly. From what we are told it does not matter if the machine is over-filling or under-filling, both seem to be an equally bad error. This tells us that this is a two-tailed test: if the machine is malfunctioning it will be shutdown regardless if it is from over-filling or under-filling. The null and alternative hypotheses are thus:

STEP 2 : Decide the level of significance and draw the graph showing the critical value.

This problem has already set the level of significance at 99%. The decision seems an appropriate one and shows the thought process when setting the significance level. Management wants to be very certain, as certain as probability will allow, that they are not shutting down a machine that is not in need of repair. To draw the distribution and the critical value, we need to know which distribution to use. Because this is a continuous random variable and we are interested in the mean, and the sample size is greater than 30, the appropriate distribution is the normal distribution and the relevant critical value is 2.575 from the normal table or the t-table at 0.005 column and infinite degrees of freedom. We draw the graph and mark these points.

STEP 3 : Calculate sample parameters and the test statistic. The sample parameters are provided, the sample mean is 7.91 and the sample variance is .03 and the sample size is 35. We need to note that the sample variance was provided not the sample standard deviation, which is what we need for the formula. Remembering that the standard deviation is simply the square root of the variance, we therefore know the sample standard deviation, s, is 0.173. With this information we calculate the test statistic as -3.07, and mark it on the graph.

STEP 4 : Compare test statistic and the critical values Now we compare the test statistic and the critical value by placing the test statistic on the graph. We see that the test statistic is in the tail, decidedly greater than the critical value of 2.575. We note that even the very small difference between the hypothesized value and the sample value is still a large number of standard deviations. The sample mean is only 0.08 ounces different from the required level of 8 ounces, but it is 3 plus standard deviations away and thus we cannot accept the null hypothesis.

STEP 5 : Reach a Conclusion

Three standard deviations of a test statistic will guarantee that the test will fail. The probability that anything is within three standard deviations is almost zero. Actually it is 0.0026 on the normal distribution, which is certainly almost zero in a practical sense. Our formal conclusion would be “ At a 99% level of significance we cannot accept the hypothesis that the sample mean came from a distribution with a mean of 8 ounces” Or less formally, and getting to the point, “At a 99% level of significance we conclude that the machine is under filling the bottles and is in need of repair”.

Try It 9.10

A company records the mean time of employees working in a day. The mean comes out to be 475 minutes, with a standard deviation of 45 minutes. A manager recorded times of 20 employees. The times of working were (frequencies are in parentheses) 460(3); 465(2); 470(3); 475(1); 480(6); 485(3); 490(2).

Conduct a hypothesis test using a 2.5% level of significance to determine if the mean time is more than 475 .

Hypothesis Test for Proportions

Just as there were confidence intervals for proportions, or more formally, the population parameter p of the binomial distribution, there is the ability to test hypotheses concerning p .

The population parameter for the binomial is p . The estimated value (point estimate) for p is p′ where p′ = x/n , x is the number of successes in the sample and n is the sample size.

When you perform a hypothesis test of a population proportion p , you take a simple random sample from the population. The conditions for a binomial distribution must be met, which are: there are a certain number n of independent trials meaning random sampling, the outcomes of any trial are binary, success or failure, and each trial has the same probability of a success p . The shape of the binomial distribution needs to be similar to the shape of the normal distribution. To ensure this, the quantities np′ and nq′ must both be greater than five ( np′ > 5 and nq′ > 5). In this case the binomial distribution of a sample (estimated) proportion can be approximated by the normal distribution with μ = np μ = np and σ = npq σ = npq . Remember that q = 1 – p q = 1 – p . There is no distribution that can correct for this small sample bias and thus if these conditions are not met we simply cannot test the hypothesis with the data available at that time. We met this condition when we first were estimating confidence intervals for p .

Again, we begin with the standardizing formula modified because this is the distribution of a binomial.

Substituting p 0 p 0 , the hypothesized value of p , we have:

This is the test statistic for testing hypothesized values of p , where the null and alternative hypotheses take one of the following forms:

The decision rule stated above applies here also: if the calculated value of Z c shows that the sample proportion is "too many" standard deviations from the hypothesized proportion, the null hypothesis cannot be accepted. The decision as to what is "too many" is pre-determined by the analyst depending on the level of significance required in the test.

Example 9.11

The mortgage department of a large bank is interested in the nature of loans of first-time borrowers. This information will be used to tailor their marketing strategy. They believe that 50% of first-time borrowers take out smaller loans than other borrowers. They perform a hypothesis test to determine if the percentage is the same or different from 50% . They sample 100 first-time borrowers and find 53 of these loans are smaller that the other borrowers. For the hypothesis test, they choose a 5% level of significance.

STEP 1 : Set the null and alternative hypothesis.

H 0 : p = 0.50   H a : p ≠ 0.50

The words "is the same or different from" tell you this is a two-tailed test. The Type I and Type II errors are as follows: The Type I error is to conclude that the proportion of borrowers is different from 50% when, in fact, the proportion is actually 50%. (Reject the null hypothesis when the null hypothesis is true). The Type II error is there is not enough evidence to conclude that the proportion of first time borrowers differs from 50% when, in fact, the proportion does differ from 50%. (You fail to reject the null hypothesis when the null hypothesis is false.)

STEP 2 : Decide the level of significance and draw the graph showing the critical value

The level of significance has been set by the problem at the 5% level. Because this is two-tailed test one-half of the alpha value will be in the upper tail and one-half in the lower tail as shown on the graph. The critical value for the normal distribution at the 95% level of confidence is 1.96. This can easily be found on the student’s t-table at the very bottom at infinite degrees of freedom remembering that at infinity the t-distribution is the normal distribution. Of course the value can also be found on the normal table but you have go looking for one-half of 95 (0.475) inside the body of the table and then read out to the sides and top for the number of standard deviations.

STEP 3 : Calculate the sample parameters and critical value of the test statistic.

The test statistic is a normal distribution, Z, for testing proportions and is:

For this case, the sample of 100 found 53 of these loans were smaller than those of other borrowers. The sample proportion, p′ = 53/100= 0.53 The test question, therefore, is : “Is 0.53 significantly different from .50?” Putting these values into the formula for the test statistic we find that 0.53 is only 0.60 standard deviations away from .50. This is barely off of the mean of the standard normal distribution of zero. There is virtually no difference from the sample proportion and the hypothesized proportion in terms of standard deviations.

STEP 4 : Compare the test statistic and the critical value.

The calculated value is well within the critical values of ± 1.96 standard deviations and thus we cannot reject the null hypothesis. To reject the null hypothesis we need significant evident of difference between the hypothesized value and the sample value. In this case the sample value is very nearly the same as the hypothesized value measured in terms of standard deviations.

STEP 5 : Reach a conclusion

The formal conclusion would be “At a 5% level of significance we cannot reject the null hypothesis that 50% of first-time borrowers take out smaller loans than other borrowers.” Notice the length to which the conclusion goes to include all of the conditions that are attached to the conclusion. Statisticians, for all the criticism they receive, are careful to be very specific even when this seems trivial. Statisticians cannot say more than they know, and the data constrain the conclusion to be within the metes and bounds of the data.

Try It 9.11

A teacher believes that 85% of students in the class will want to go on a field trip to the local zoo. The teacher performs a hypothesis test to determine if the percentage is the same or different from 85%. The teacher samples 50 students and 39 reply that they would want to go to the zoo. For the hypothesis test, use a 1% level of significance.

Example 9.12

Suppose a consumer group suspects that the proportion of households that have three or more cell phones is 30%. A cell phone company has reason to believe that the proportion is not 30%. Before they start a big advertising campaign, they conduct a hypothesis test. Their marketing people survey 150 households with the result that 43 of the households have three or more cell phones.

Here is an abbreviate version of the system to solve hypothesis tests applied to a test on a proportions.

Try It 9.12

Marketers believe that 92% of adults in the United States own a cell phone. A cell phone manufacturer believes that number is actually lower. 200 American adults are surveyed, of which, 174 report having cell phones. Use a 5% level of significance. State the null and alternative hypothesis, find the p -value, state your conclusion, and identify the Type I and Type II errors.

Example 9.13

The National Institute of Standards and Technology provides exact data on conductivity properties of materials. Following are conductivity measurements for 11 randomly selected pieces of a particular type of glass.

1.11; 1.07; 1.11; 1.07; 1.12; 1.08; .98; .98; 1.02; .95; .95 Is there convincing evidence that the average conductivity of this type of glass is greater than one? Use a significance level of 0.05.

Let’s follow a four-step process to answer this statistical question.

• H 0 : μ ≤ 1
• H a : μ > 1
• Plan : We are testing a sample mean without a known population standard deviation with less than 30 observations. Therefore, we need to use a Student's-t distribution. Assume the underlying population is normal.
• Do the calculations and draw the graph .
• State the Conclusions : We cannot accept the null hypothesis. It is reasonable to state that the data supports the claim that the average conductivity level is greater than one.

Try It 9.13

The boiling point of a specific liquid is measured for 15 samples, and the boiling points are obtained as follows:

205; 206; 206; 202; 199; 194; 197; 198; 198; 201; 201; 202; 207; 211; 205

Is there convincing evidence that the average boiling point is greater than 200? Use a significance level of 0.1. Assume the population is normal.

Example 9.14

In a study of 420,019 cell phone users, 172 of the subjects developed brain cancer. Test the claim that cell phone users developed brain cancer at a greater rate than that for non-cell phone users (the rate of brain cancer for non-cell phone users is 0.0340%). Since this is a critical issue, use a 0.005 significance level. Explain why the significance level should be so low in terms of a Type I error.

• H 0 : p ≤ 0.00034
• H a : p > 0.00034

If we commit a Type I error, we are essentially accepting a false claim. Since the claim describes cancer-causing environments, we want to minimize the chances of incorrectly identifying causes of cancer.

• We will be testing a sample proportion with x = 172 and n = 420,019. The sample is sufficiently large because we have np' = 420,019(0.00034) = 142.8, nq' = 420,019(0.99966) = 419,876.2, two independent outcomes, and a fixed probability of success p' = 0.00034. Thus we will be able to generalize our results to the population.

Try It 9.14

In a study of 390,000 moisturizer users, 138 of the subjects developed skin diseases. Test the claim that moisturizer users developed skin diseases at a greater rate than that for non-moisturizer users (the rate of skin diseases for non-moisturizer users is 0.041%). Since this is a critical issue, use a 0.005 significance level. Explain why the significance level should be so low in terms of a Type I error.

This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's permission.

Want to cite, share, or modify this book? This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution License and you must attribute OpenStax.

Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/introductory-business-statistics-2e/pages/1-introduction

• Authors: Alexander Holmes, Barbara Illowsky, Susan Dean
• Publisher/website: OpenStax
• Book title: Introductory Business Statistics 2e
• Publication date: Dec 13, 2023
• Location: Houston, Texas
• Book URL: https://openstax.org/books/introductory-business-statistics-2e/pages/1-introduction
• Section URL: https://openstax.org/books/introductory-business-statistics-2e/pages/9-4-full-hypothesis-test-examples

© Jul 18, 2024 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.

Tutorial Playlist

Statistics tutorial, everything you need to know about the probability density function in statistics, the best guide to understand central limit theorem, an in-depth guide to measures of central tendency : mean, median and mode, the ultimate guide to understand conditional probability.

A Comprehensive Look at Percentile in Statistics

The Best Guide to Understand Bayes Theorem

Everything you need to know about the normal distribution, an in-depth explanation of cumulative distribution function, chi-square test, what is hypothesis testing in statistics types and examples, understanding the fundamentals of arithmetic and geometric progression, the definitive guide to understand spearman’s rank correlation, mean squared error: overview, examples, concepts and more, all you need to know about the empirical rule in statistics, the complete guide to skewness and kurtosis, a holistic look at bernoulli distribution.

All You Need to Know About Bias in Statistics

A Complete Guide to Get a Grasp of Time Series Analysis

The Key Differences Between Z-Test Vs. T-Test

The Complete Guide to Understand Pearson's Correlation

A complete guide on the types of statistical studies, everything you need to know about poisson distribution, your best guide to understand correlation vs. regression, the most comprehensive guide for beginners on what is correlation, hypothesis testing in statistics - types | examples.

Lesson 10 of 24 By Avijeet Biswal

Table of Contents

In today’s data-driven world, decisions are based on data all the time. Hypothesis plays a crucial role in that process, whether it may be making business decisions, in the health sector, academia, or in quality improvement. Without hypothesis and hypothesis tests, you risk drawing the wrong conclusions and making bad decisions. In this tutorial, you will look at Hypothesis Testing in Statistics.

What Is Hypothesis Testing in Statistics?

Hypothesis Testing is a type of statistical analysis in which you put your assumptions about a population parameter to the test. It is used to estimate the relationship between 2 statistical variables.

Let's discuss few examples of statistical hypothesis from real-life - 

• A teacher assumes that 60% of his college's students come from lower-middle-class families.
• A doctor believes that 3D (Diet, Dose, and Discipline) is 90% effective for diabetic patients.

Now that you know about hypothesis testing, look at the two types of hypothesis testing in statistics.

The Ultimate Ticket to Top Data Science Job Roles

Importance of Hypothesis Testing in Data Analysis

Here is what makes hypothesis testing so important in data analysis and why it is key to making better decisions:

Avoiding Misleading Conclusions (Type I and Type II Errors)

One of the biggest benefits of hypothesis testing is that it helps you avoid jumping to the wrong conclusions. For instance, a Type I error could occur if a company launches a new product thinking it will be a hit, only to find out later that the data misled them. A Type II error might happen when a company overlooks a potentially successful product because their testing wasn’t thorough enough. By setting up the right significance level and carefully calculating the p-value, hypothesis testing minimizes the chances of these errors, leading to more accurate results.

Making Smarter Choices

Hypothesis testing is key to making smarter, evidence-based decisions. Let’s say a city planner wants to determine if building a new park will increase community engagement. By testing the hypothesis using data from similar projects, they can make an informed choice. Similarly, a teacher might use hypothesis testing to see if a new teaching method actually improves student performance. It’s about taking the guesswork out of decisions and relying on solid evidence instead.

Optimizing Business Tactics

In business, hypothesis testing is invaluable for testing new ideas and strategies before fully committing to them. For example, an e-commerce company might want to test whether offering free shipping increases sales. By using hypothesis testing, they can compare sales data from customers who received free shipping offers and those who didn’t. This allows them to base their business decisions on data, not hunches, reducing the risk of costly mistakes.

Hypothesis Testing Formula

Z = ( x̅ – μ0 ) / (σ /√n)

• Here, x̅ is the sample mean,
• μ0 is the population mean,
• σ is the standard deviation,
• n is the sample size.

How Hypothesis Testing Works?

An analyst performs hypothesis testing on a statistical sample to present evidence of the plausibility of the null hypothesis. Measurements and analyses are conducted on a random sample of the population to test a theory. Analysts use a random population sample to test two hypotheses: the null and alternative hypotheses.

The null hypothesis is typically an equality hypothesis between population parameters; for example, a null hypothesis may claim that the population means return equals zero. The alternate hypothesis is essentially the inverse of the null hypothesis (e.g., the population means the return is not equal to zero). As a result, they are mutually exclusive, and only one can be correct. One of the two possibilities, however, will always be correct.

Your Dream Career is Just Around The Corner!

Null Hypothesis and Alternative Hypothesis

The Null Hypothesis is the assumption that the event will not occur. A null hypothesis has no bearing on the study's outcome unless it is rejected.

H0 is the symbol for it, and it is pronounced H-naught.

The Alternate Hypothesis is the logical opposite of the null hypothesis. The acceptance of the alternative hypothesis follows the rejection of the null hypothesis. H1 is the symbol for it.

Let's understand this with an example.

A sanitizer manufacturer claims that its product kills 95 percent of germs on average. 

To put this company's claim to the test, create a null and alternate hypothesis.

H0 (Null Hypothesis): Average = 95%.

Alternative Hypothesis (H1): The average is less than 95%.

Another straightforward example to understand this concept is determining whether or not a coin is fair and balanced. The null hypothesis states that the probability of a show of heads is equal to the likelihood of a show of tails. In contrast, the alternate theory states that the probability of a show of heads and tails would be very different.

Become a Data Scientist with Hands-on Training!

Hypothesis Testing Calculation With Examples

Let's consider a hypothesis test for the average height of women in the United States. Suppose our null hypothesis is that the average height is 5'4". We gather a sample of 100 women and determine their average height is 5'5". The standard deviation of population is 2.

To calculate the z-score, we would use the following formula:

z = ( x̅ – μ0 ) / (σ /√n)

z = (5'5" - 5'4") / (2" / √100)

z = 0.5 / (0.045)

We will reject the null hypothesis as the z-score of 11.11 is very large and conclude that there is evidence to suggest that the average height of women in the US is greater than 5'4".

Steps in Hypothesis Testing

Hypothesis testing is a statistical method to determine if there is enough evidence in a sample of data to infer that a certain condition is true for the entire population. Here’s a breakdown of the typical steps involved in hypothesis testing:

Formulate Hypotheses

• Null Hypothesis (H0): This hypothesis states that there is no effect or difference, and it is the hypothesis you attempt to reject with your test.
• Alternative Hypothesis (H1 or Ha): This hypothesis is what you might believe to be true or hope to prove true. It is usually considered the opposite of the null hypothesis.

Choose the Significance Level (α)

The significance level, often denoted by alpha (α), is the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis when it is true. Common choices for α are 0.05 (5%), 0.01 (1%), and 0.10 (10%).

Select the Appropriate Test

Choose a statistical test based on the type of data and the hypothesis. Common tests include t-tests, chi-square tests, ANOVA, and regression analysis. The selection depends on data type, distribution, sample size, and whether the hypothesis is one-tailed or two-tailed.

Collect Data

Gather the data that will be analyzed in the test. To infer conclusions accurately, this data should be representative of the population.

Calculate the Test Statistic

Based on the collected data and the chosen test, calculate a test statistic that reflects how much the observed data deviates from the null hypothesis.

Determine the p-value

The p-value is the probability of observing test results at least as extreme as the results observed, assuming the null hypothesis is correct. It helps determine the strength of the evidence against the null hypothesis.

Make a Decision

Compare the p-value to the chosen significance level:

• If the p-value ≤ α: Reject the null hypothesis, suggesting sufficient evidence in the data supports the alternative hypothesis.
• If the p-value > α: Do not reject the null hypothesis, suggesting insufficient evidence to support the alternative hypothesis.

Report the Results

Present the findings from the hypothesis test, including the test statistic, p-value, and the conclusion about the hypotheses.

Perform Post-hoc Analysis (if necessary)

Depending on the results and the study design, further analysis may be needed to explore the data more deeply or to address multiple comparisons if several hypotheses were tested simultaneously.

Types of Hypothesis Testing

To determine whether a discovery or relationship is statistically significant, hypothesis testing uses a z-test. It usually checks to see if two means are the same (the null hypothesis). Only when the population standard deviation is known and the sample size is 30 data points or more, can a z-test be applied.

A statistical test called a t-test is employed to compare the means of two groups. To determine whether two groups differ or if a procedure or treatment affects the population of interest, it is frequently used in hypothesis testing.

3. Chi-Square 

You utilize a Chi-square test for hypothesis testing concerning whether your data is as predicted. To determine if the expected and observed results are well-fitted, the Chi-square test analyzes the differences between categorical variables from a random sample. The test's fundamental premise is that the observed values in your data should be compared to the predicted values that would be present if the null hypothesis were true.

ANOVA , or Analysis of Variance, is a statistical method used to compare the means of three or more groups. It’s particularly useful when you want to see if there are significant differences between multiple groups. For instance, in business, a company might use ANOVA to analyze whether three different stores are performing differently in terms of sales. It’s also widely used in fields like medical research and social sciences, where comparing group differences can provide valuable insights.

Hypothesis Testing and Confidence Intervals

Both confidence intervals and hypothesis tests are inferential techniques that depend on approximating the sample distribution. Data from a sample is used to estimate a population parameter using confidence intervals. Data from a sample is used in hypothesis testing to examine a given hypothesis. We must have a postulated parameter to conduct hypothesis testing.

Bootstrap distributions and randomization distributions are created using comparable simulation techniques. The observed sample statistic is the focal point of a bootstrap distribution, whereas the null hypothesis value is the focal point of a randomization distribution.

A variety of feasible population parameter estimates are included in confidence ranges. In this lesson, we created just two-tailed confidence intervals. There is a direct connection between these two-tail confidence intervals and these two-tail hypothesis tests. The results of a two-tailed hypothesis test and two-tailed confidence intervals typically provide the same results. In other words, a hypothesis test at the 0.05 level will virtually always fail to reject the null hypothesis if the 95% confidence interval contains the predicted value. A hypothesis test at the 0.05 level will nearly certainly reject the null hypothesis if the 95% confidence interval does not include the hypothesized parameter.

Become a Data Scientist through hands-on learning with hackathons, masterclasses, webinars, and Ask-Me-Anything sessions! Start learning!

Simple and Composite Hypothesis Testing

Depending on the population distribution, you can classify the statistical hypothesis into two types.

Simple Hypothesis: A simple hypothesis specifies an exact value for the parameter.

Composite Hypothesis: A composite hypothesis specifies a range of values.

A company is claiming that their average sales for this quarter are 1000 units. This is an example of a simple hypothesis.

Suppose the company claims that the sales are in the range of 900 to 1000 units. Then this is a case of a composite hypothesis.

One-Tailed and Two-Tailed Hypothesis Testing

The One-Tailed test, also called a directional test, considers a critical region of data that would result in the null hypothesis being rejected if the test sample falls into it, inevitably meaning the acceptance of the alternate hypothesis.

In a one-tailed test, the critical distribution area is one-sided, meaning the test sample is either greater or lesser than a specific value.

In two tails, the test sample is checked to be greater or less than a range of values in a Two-Tailed test, implying that the critical distribution area is two-sided.

If the sample falls within this range, the alternate hypothesis will be accepted, and the null hypothesis will be rejected.

Become a Data Scientist With Real-World Experience

Right Tailed Hypothesis Testing

If the larger than (>) sign appears in your hypothesis statement, you are using a right-tailed test, also known as an upper test. Or, to put it another way, the disparity is to the right. For instance, you can contrast the battery life before and after a change in production. Your hypothesis statements can be the following if you want to know if the battery life is longer than the original (let's say 90 hours):

• The null hypothesis is (H0 <= 90) or less change.
• A possibility is that battery life has risen (H1) > 90.

The crucial point in this situation is that the alternate hypothesis (H1), not the null hypothesis, decides whether you get a right-tailed test.

Left Tailed Hypothesis Testing

Alternative hypotheses that assert the true value of a parameter is lower than the null hypothesis are tested with a left-tailed test; they are indicated by the asterisk "<".

Suppose H0: mean = 50 and H1: mean not equal to 50

According to the H1, the mean can be greater than or less than 50. This is an example of a Two-tailed test.

In a similar manner, if H0: mean >=50, then H1: mean <50

Here the mean is less than 50. It is called a One-tailed test.

Type 1 and Type 2 Error

A hypothesis test can result in two types of errors.

Type 1 Error: A Type-I error occurs when sample results reject the null hypothesis despite being true.

Type 2 Error: A Type-II error occurs when the null hypothesis is not rejected when it is false, unlike a Type-I error.

Suppose a teacher evaluates the examination paper to decide whether a student passes or fails.

H0: Student has passed

H1: Student has failed

Type I error will be the teacher failing the student [rejects H0] although the student scored the passing marks [H0 was true]. 

Type II error will be the case where the teacher passes the student [do not reject H0] although the student did not score the passing marks [H1 is true].

Serious About Success? Don't Settle for Less

Practice Problems on Hypothesis Testing

Here are the practice problems on hypothesis testing that will help you understand how to apply these concepts in real-world scenarios:

A telecom service provider claims that customers spend an average of ₹400 per month, with a standard deviation of ₹25. However, a random sample of 50 customer bills shows a mean of ₹250 and a standard deviation of ₹15. Does this sample data support the service provider’s claim?

Solution: Let’s break this down:

• Null Hypothesis (H0): The average amount spent per month is ₹400.
• Alternate Hypothesis (H1): The average amount spent per month is not ₹400.
• Population Standard Deviation (σ): ₹25
• Sample Size (n): 50
• Sample Mean (x̄): ₹250

1. Calculate the z-value:

z=250-40025/50 −42.42

2. Compare with critical z-values: For a 5% significance level, critical z-values are -1.96 and +1.96. Since -42.42 is far outside this range, we reject the null hypothesis. The sample data suggests that the average amount spent is significantly different from ₹400.

Out of 850 customers, 400 made online grocery purchases. Can we conclude that more than 50% of customers are moving towards online grocery shopping?

Solution: Here’s how to approach it:

• Proportion of customers who shopped online (p): 400 / 850 = 0.47
• Null Hypothesis (H0): The proportion of online shoppers is 50% or more.
• Alternate Hypothesis (H1): The proportion of online shoppers is less than 50%.
• Sample Size (n): 850
• Significance Level (α): 5%

z=p-PP(1-P)/n

z=0.47-0.500.50.5/850  −1.74

2. Compare with the critical z-value: For a 5% significance level (one-tailed test), the critical z-value is -1.645. Since -1.74 is less than -1.645, we reject the null hypothesis. This means the data does not support the idea that most customers are moving towards online grocery shopping.

In a study of code quality, Team A has 250 errors in 1000 lines of code, and Team B has 300 errors in 800 lines of code. Can we say Team B performs worse than Team A?

Solution: Let’s analyze it:

• Proportion of errors for Team A (pA): 250 / 1000 = 0.25
• Proportion of errors for Team B (pB): 300 / 800 = 0.375
• Null Hypothesis (H0): Team B’s error rate is less than or equal to Team A’s.
• Alternate Hypothesis (H1): Team B’s error rate is greater than Team A’s.
• Sample Size for Team A (nA): 1000
• Sample Size for Team B (nB): 800

p=nApA+nBpBnA+nB

p=10000.25+8000.3751000+800 ≈ 0.305

z=​pA−pB​p(1-p)(1nA+1nB)

z=​0.25−0.375​0.305(1-0.305) (11000+1800) ≈ −5.72

2. Compare with the critical z-value: For a 5% significance level (one-tailed test), the critical z-value is +1.645. Since -5.72 is far less than +1.645, we reject the null hypothesis. The data indicates that Team B’s performance is significantly worse than Team A’s.

Our Data Scientist Master's Program will help you master core topics such as R, Python, Machine Learning, Tableau, Hadoop, and Spark. Get started on your journey today!

Applications of Hypothesis Testing

Apart from the practical problems, let's look at the real-world applications of hypothesis testing across various fields:

Medicine and Healthcare

In medicine, hypothesis testing plays a pivotal role in assessing the success of new treatments. For example, researchers may want to find out if a new exercise regimen improves heart health. By comparing data from patients who followed the program to those who didn’t, they can determine if the exercise significantly improves health outcomes. Such rigorous testing allows medical professionals to rely on proven methods rather than assumptions.

Quality Control and Manufacturing

In manufacturing, ensuring product quality is vital, and hypothesis testing helps maintain those standards. Suppose a beverage company introduces a new bottling process and wants to verify if it reduces contamination. By analyzing samples from the new and old processes, hypothesis testing can reveal whether the new method reduces the risk of contamination. This allows manufacturers to implement improvements that enhance product safety and quality confidently.

Education and Learning

In education and learning, hypothesis testing is a tool to evaluate the impact of innovative teaching techniques. Imagine a situation where teachers introduce project-based learning to boost critical thinking skills. By comparing the performance of students who engaged in project-based learning with those in traditional settings, educators can test their hypothesis. The results can help educators make informed choices about adopting new teaching strategies.

Environmental Science

Hypothesis testing is essential in environmental science for evaluating the effectiveness of conservation measures. For example, scientists might explore whether a new water management strategy improves river health. By collecting and comparing data on water quality before and after the implementation of the strategy, they can determine whether the intervention leads to positive changes. Such findings are crucial for guiding environmental decisions that have long-term impacts.

Marketing and Advertising

In marketing, businesses use hypothesis testing to refine their approaches. For instance, a clothing brand might test if offering limited-time discounts increases customer loyalty. By running campaigns with and without the discount and analyzing the outcomes, they can assess if the strategy boosts customer retention. Data-driven insights from hypothesis testing enable companies to design marketing strategies that resonate with their audience and drive growth.

Limitations of Hypothesis Testing

Hypothesis testing has some limitations that researchers should be aware of:

• It cannot prove or establish the truth: Hypothesis testing provides evidence to support or reject a hypothesis, but it cannot confirm the absolute truth of the research question.
• Results are sample-specific: Hypothesis testing is based on analyzing a sample from a population, and the conclusions drawn are specific to that particular sample.
• Possible errors: During hypothesis testing, there is a chance of committing type I error (rejecting a true null hypothesis) or type II error (failing to reject a false null hypothesis).
• Assumptions and requirements: Different tests have specific assumptions and requirements that must be met to accurately interpret results.

Learn All The Tricks Of The BI Trade

After reading this tutorial, you would have a much better understanding of hypothesis testing, one of the most important concepts in the field of Data Science . The majority of hypotheses are based on speculation about observed behavior, natural phenomena, or established theories.

If you are interested in statistics of data science and skills needed for such a career, you ought to explore the Post Graduate Program in Data Science.

1. What is hypothesis testing in statistics with example?

Hypothesis testing is a statistical method used to determine if there is enough evidence in a sample data to draw conclusions about a population. It involves formulating two competing hypotheses, the null hypothesis (H0) and the alternative hypothesis (Ha), and then collecting data to assess the evidence. An example: testing if a new drug improves patient recovery (Ha) compared to the standard treatment (H0) based on collected patient data.

2. What is H0 and H1 in statistics?

In statistics, H0​ and H1​ represent the null and alternative hypotheses. The null hypothesis, H0​, is the default assumption that no effect or difference exists between groups or conditions. The alternative hypothesis, H1​, is the competing claim suggesting an effect or a difference. Statistical tests determine whether to reject the null hypothesis in favor of the alternative hypothesis based on the data.

3. What is a simple hypothesis with an example?

A simple hypothesis is a specific statement predicting a single relationship between two variables. It posits a direct and uncomplicated outcome. For example, a simple hypothesis might state, "Increased sunlight exposure increases the growth rate of sunflowers." Here, the hypothesis suggests a direct relationship between the amount of sunlight (independent variable) and the growth rate of sunflowers (dependent variable), with no additional variables considered.

4. What are the 3 major types of hypothesis?

The three major types of hypotheses are:

• Null Hypothesis (H0): Represents the default assumption, stating that there is no significant effect or relationship in the data.
• Alternative Hypothesis (Ha): Contradicts the null hypothesis and proposes a specific effect or relationship that researchers want to investigate.
• Nondirectional Hypothesis: An alternative hypothesis that doesn't specify the direction of the effect, leaving it open for both positive and negative possibilities.

5. What software tools can assist with hypothesis testing?

Several software tools offering distinct features can help with hypothesis testing. R and RStudio are popular for their advanced statistical capabilities. The Python ecosystem, including libraries like SciPy and Statsmodels, also supports hypothesis testing. SAS and SPSS are well-established tools for comprehensive statistical analysis. For basic testing, Excel offers simple built-in functions.

6. How do I interpret the results of a hypothesis test?

Interpreting hypothesis test results involves comparing the p-value to the significance level (alpha). If the p-value is less than or equal to alpha, you can reject the null hypothesis, indicating statistical significance. This suggests that the observed effect is unlikely to have occurred by chance, validating your analysis findings.

7. Why is sample size important in hypothesis testing?

Sample size is crucial in hypothesis testing as it affects the test’s power. A larger sample size increases the likelihood of detecting a true effect, reducing the risk of Type II errors. Conversely, a small sample may lack the statistical power needed to identify differences, potentially leading to inaccurate conclusions.

8. Can hypothesis testing be used for non-numerical data?

Yes, hypothesis testing can be applied to non-numerical data through non-parametric tests. These tests are ideal when data doesn't meet parametric assumptions or when dealing with categorical data. Non-parametric tests, like the Chi-square or Mann-Whitney U test, provide robust methods for analyzing non-numerical data and drawing meaningful conclusions.

9. How do I choose the proper hypothesis test?

Selecting the right hypothesis test depends on several factors: the objective of your analysis, the type of data (numerical or categorical), and the sample size. Consider whether you're comparing means, proportions, or associations, and whether your data follows a normal distribution. The correct choice ensures accurate results tailored to your research question.

Find our PL-300 Microsoft Power BI Certification Training Online Classroom training classes in top cities:

About the Author

Avijeet is a Senior Research Analyst at Simplilearn. Passionate about Data Analytics, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning, Avijeet is also interested in politics, cricket, and football.

Recommended Resources

Free eBook: Top Programming Languages For A Data Scientist

Normality Test in Minitab: Minitab with Statistics

Machine Learning Career Guide: A Playbook to Becoming a Machine Learning Engineer

• PMP, PMI, PMBOK, CAPM, PgMP, PfMP, ACP, PBA, RMP, SP, and OPM3 are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

User Preferences

Content preview.

Arcu felis bibendum ut tristique et egestas quis:

• Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris
• Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate
• Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident

Keyboard Shortcuts

6a.2 - steps for hypothesis tests, the logic of hypothesis testing section  .

A hypothesis, in statistics, is a statement about a population parameter, where this statement typically is represented by some specific numerical value. In testing a hypothesis, we use a method where we gather data in an effort to gather evidence about the hypothesis.

How do we decide whether to reject the null hypothesis?

• If the sample data are consistent with the null hypothesis, then we do not reject it.
• If the sample data are inconsistent with the null hypothesis, but consistent with the alternative, then we reject the null hypothesis and conclude that the alternative hypothesis is true.

Six Steps for Hypothesis Tests Section  

In hypothesis testing, there are certain steps one must follow. Below these are summarized into six such steps to conducting a test of a hypothesis.

• Set up the hypotheses and check conditions : Each hypothesis test includes two hypotheses about the population. One is the null hypothesis, notated as \(H_0 \), which is a statement of a particular parameter value. This hypothesis is assumed to be true until there is evidence to suggest otherwise. The second hypothesis is called the alternative, or research hypothesis, notated as \(H_a \). The alternative hypothesis is a statement of a range of alternative values in which the parameter may fall. One must also check that any conditions (assumptions) needed to run the test have been satisfied e.g. normality of data, independence, and number of success and failure outcomes.
• Decide on the significance level, \(\alpha \): This value is used as a probability cutoff for making decisions about the null hypothesis. This alpha value represents the probability we are willing to place on our test for making an incorrect decision in regards to rejecting the null hypothesis. The most common \(\alpha \) value is 0.05 or 5%. Other popular choices are 0.01 (1%) and 0.1 (10%).
• Calculate the test statistic: Gather sample data and calculate a test statistic where the sample statistic is compared to the parameter value. The test statistic is calculated under the assumption the null hypothesis is true and incorporates a measure of standard error and assumptions (conditions) related to the sampling distribution.
• Calculate probability value (p-value), or find the rejection region: A p-value is found by using the test statistic to calculate the probability of the sample data producing such a test statistic or one more extreme. The rejection region is found by using alpha to find a critical value; the rejection region is the area that is more extreme than the critical value. We discuss the p-value and rejection region in more detail in the next section.
• Make a decision about the null hypothesis: In this step, we decide to either reject the null hypothesis or decide to fail to reject the null hypothesis. Notice we do not make a decision where we will accept the null hypothesis.
• State an overall conclusion : Once we have found the p-value or rejection region, and made a statistical decision about the null hypothesis (i.e. we will reject the null or fail to reject the null), we then want to summarize our results into an overall conclusion for our test.

We will follow these six steps for the remainder of this Lesson. In the future Lessons, the steps will be followed but may not be explained explicitly.

Step 1 is a very important step to set up correctly. If your hypotheses are incorrect, your conclusion will be incorrect. In this next section, we practice with Step 1 for the one sample situations.

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

• Knowledge Base
• Choosing the Right Statistical Test | Types & Examples

Choosing the Right Statistical Test | Types & Examples

Published on January 28, 2020 by Rebecca Bevans . Revised on June 22, 2023.

Statistical tests are used in hypothesis testing . They can be used to:

• determine whether a predictor variable has a statistically significant relationship with an outcome variable.
• estimate the difference between two or more groups.

Statistical tests assume a null hypothesis of no relationship or no difference between groups. Then they determine whether the observed data fall outside of the range of values predicted by the null hypothesis.

If you already know what types of variables you’re dealing with, you can use the flowchart to choose the right statistical test for your data.

Statistical tests flowchart

Table of contents

What does a statistical test do, when to perform a statistical test, choosing a parametric test: regression, comparison, or correlation, choosing a nonparametric test, flowchart: choosing a statistical test, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about statistical tests.

Statistical tests work by calculating a test statistic – a number that describes how much the relationship between variables in your test differs from the null hypothesis of no relationship.

It then calculates a p value (probability value). The p -value estimates how likely it is that you would see the difference described by the test statistic if the null hypothesis of no relationship were true.

If the value of the test statistic is more extreme than the statistic calculated from the null hypothesis, then you can infer a statistically significant relationship between the predictor and outcome variables.

If the value of the test statistic is less extreme than the one calculated from the null hypothesis, then you can infer no statistically significant relationship between the predictor and outcome variables.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

You can perform statistical tests on data that have been collected in a statistically valid manner – either through an experiment , or through observations made using probability sampling methods .

For a statistical test to be valid , your sample size needs to be large enough to approximate the true distribution of the population being studied.

To determine which statistical test to use, you need to know:

• whether your data meets certain assumptions.
• the types of variables that you’re dealing with.

Statistical assumptions

Statistical tests make some common assumptions about the data they are testing:

• Independence of observations (a.k.a. no autocorrelation): The observations/variables you include in your test are not related (for example, multiple measurements of a single test subject are not independent, while measurements of multiple different test subjects are independent).
• Homogeneity of variance : the variance within each group being compared is similar among all groups. If one group has much more variation than others, it will limit the test’s effectiveness.
• Normality of data : the data follows a normal distribution (a.k.a. a bell curve). This assumption applies only to quantitative data .

If your data do not meet the assumptions of normality or homogeneity of variance, you may be able to perform a nonparametric statistical test , which allows you to make comparisons without any assumptions about the data distribution.

If your data do not meet the assumption of independence of observations, you may be able to use a test that accounts for structure in your data (repeated-measures tests or tests that include blocking variables).

Types of variables

The types of variables you have usually determine what type of statistical test you can use.

Quantitative variables represent amounts of things (e.g. the number of trees in a forest). Types of quantitative variables include:

• Continuous (aka ratio variables): represent measures and can usually be divided into units smaller than one (e.g. 0.75 grams).
• Discrete (aka integer variables): represent counts and usually can’t be divided into units smaller than one (e.g. 1 tree).

Categorical variables represent groupings of things (e.g. the different tree species in a forest). Types of categorical variables include:

• Ordinal : represent data with an order (e.g. rankings).
• Nominal : represent group names (e.g. brands or species names).
• Binary : represent data with a yes/no or 1/0 outcome (e.g. win or lose).

Choose the test that fits the types of predictor and outcome variables you have collected (if you are doing an experiment , these are the independent and dependent variables ). Consult the tables below to see which test best matches your variables.

Parametric tests usually have stricter requirements than nonparametric tests, and are able to make stronger inferences from the data. They can only be conducted with data that adheres to the common assumptions of statistical tests.

The most common types of parametric test include regression tests, comparison tests, and correlation tests.

Regression tests

Regression tests look for cause-and-effect relationships . They can be used to estimate the effect of one or more continuous variables on another variable.

Comparison tests

Comparison tests look for differences among group means . They can be used to test the effect of a categorical variable on the mean value of some other characteristic.

T-tests are used when comparing the means of precisely two groups (e.g., the average heights of men and women). ANOVA and MANOVA tests are used when comparing the means of more than two groups (e.g., the average heights of children, teenagers, and adults).

Correlation tests

Correlation tests check whether variables are related without hypothesizing a cause-and-effect relationship.

These can be used to test whether two variables you want to use in (for example) a multiple regression test are autocorrelated.

Non-parametric tests don’t make as many assumptions about the data, and are useful when one or more of the common statistical assumptions are violated. However, the inferences they make aren’t as strong as with parametric tests.

Receive feedback on language, structure, and formatting

Professional editors proofread and edit your paper by focusing on:

• Academic style
• Vague sentences
• Style consistency

See an example

This flowchart helps you choose among parametric tests. For nonparametric alternatives, check the table above.

If you want to know more about statistics , methodology , or research bias , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Normal distribution
• Descriptive statistics
• Measures of central tendency
• Correlation coefficient
• Null hypothesis

Methodology

• Cluster sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Types of interviews
• Cohort study
• Thematic analysis

Research bias

• Implicit bias
• Cognitive bias
• Survivorship bias
• Availability heuristic
• Nonresponse bias
• Regression to the mean

Statistical tests commonly assume that:

• the data are normally distributed
• the groups that are being compared have similar variance
• the data are independent

If your data does not meet these assumptions you might still be able to use a nonparametric statistical test , which have fewer requirements but also make weaker inferences.

A test statistic is a number calculated by a  statistical test . It describes how far your observed data is from the  null hypothesis  of no relationship between  variables or no difference among sample groups.

The test statistic tells you how different two or more groups are from the overall population mean , or how different a linear slope is from the slope predicted by a null hypothesis . Different test statistics are used in different statistical tests.

Statistical significance is a term used by researchers to state that it is unlikely their observations could have occurred under the null hypothesis of a statistical test . Significance is usually denoted by a p -value , or probability value.

Statistical significance is arbitrary – it depends on the threshold, or alpha value, chosen by the researcher. The most common threshold is p < 0.05, which means that the data is likely to occur less than 5% of the time under the null hypothesis .

When the p -value falls below the chosen alpha value, then we say the result of the test is statistically significant.

Quantitative variables are any variables where the data represent amounts (e.g. height, weight, or age).

Categorical variables are any variables where the data represent groups. This includes rankings (e.g. finishing places in a race), classifications (e.g. brands of cereal), and binary outcomes (e.g. coin flips).

You need to know what type of variables you are working with to choose the right statistical test for your data and interpret your results .

Discrete and continuous variables are two types of quantitative variables :

• Discrete variables represent counts (e.g. the number of objects in a collection).
• Continuous variables represent measurable amounts (e.g. water volume or weight).

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Bevans, R. (2023, June 22). Choosing the Right Statistical Test | Types & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved September 9, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/statistics/statistical-tests/

Is this article helpful?

Rebecca Bevans

Other students also liked, hypothesis testing | a step-by-step guide with easy examples, test statistics | definition, interpretation, and examples, normal distribution | examples, formulas, & uses, what is your plagiarism score.

Hypothesis Testing

About hypothesis testing.

Watch the video for a brief overview of hypothesis testing:

Can’t see the video? Click here to watch it on YouTube.

Contents (Click to skip to the section):

What is a Hypothesis?

What is hypothesis testing.

• Hypothesis Testing Examples (One Sample Z Test).
• Hypothesis Test on a Mean (TI 83).

Bayesian Hypothesis Testing.

• More Hypothesis Testing Articles
• Hypothesis Tests in One Picture
• Critical Values

What is the Null Hypothesis?

Need help with a homework problem? Check out our tutoring page!

A hypothesis is an educated guess about something in the world around you. It should be testable, either by experiment or observation. For example:

• A new medicine you think might work.
• A way of teaching you think might be better.
• A possible location of new species.
• A fairer way to administer standardized tests.

It can really be anything at all as long as you can put it to the test.

What is a Hypothesis Statement?

If you are going to propose a hypothesis, it’s customary to write a statement. Your statement will look like this: “If I…(do this to an independent variable )….then (this will happen to the dependent variable ).” For example:

• If I (decrease the amount of water given to herbs) then (the herbs will increase in size).
• If I (give patients counseling in addition to medication) then (their overall depression scale will decrease).
• If I (give exams at noon instead of 7) then (student test scores will improve).
• If I (look in this certain location) then (I am more likely to find new species).

A good hypothesis statement should:

• Include an “if” and “then” statement (according to the University of California).
• Include both the independent and dependent variables.
• Be testable by experiment, survey or other scientifically sound technique.
• Be based on information in prior research (either yours or someone else’s).
• Have design criteria (for engineering or programming projects).

Hypothesis testing can be one of the most confusing aspects for students, mostly because before you can even perform a test, you have to know what your null hypothesis is. Often, those tricky word problems that you are faced with can be difficult to decipher. But it’s easier than you think; all you need to do is:

• Figure out your null hypothesis,
• State your null hypothesis,
• Choose what kind of test you need to perform,
• Either support or reject the null hypothesis .

If you trace back the history of science, the null hypothesis is always the accepted fact. Simple examples of null hypotheses that are generally accepted as being true are:

• DNA is shaped like a double helix.
• There are 8 planets in the solar system (excluding Pluto).
• Taking Vioxx can increase your risk of heart problems (a drug now taken off the market).

How do I State the Null Hypothesis?

You won’t be required to actually perform a real experiment or survey in elementary statistics (or even disprove a fact like “Pluto is a planet”!), so you’ll be given word problems from real-life situations. You’ll need to figure out what your hypothesis is from the problem. This can be a little trickier than just figuring out what the accepted fact is. With word problems, you are looking to find a fact that is nullifiable (i.e. something you can reject).

Hypothesis Testing Examples #1: Basic Example

A researcher thinks that if knee surgery patients go to physical therapy twice a week (instead of 3 times), their recovery period will be longer. Average recovery times for knee surgery patients is 8.2 weeks.

The hypothesis statement in this question is that the researcher believes the average recovery time is more than 8.2 weeks. It can be written in mathematical terms as: H 1 : μ > 8.2

Next, you’ll need to state the null hypothesis .  That’s what will happen if the researcher is wrong . In the above example, if the researcher is wrong then the recovery time is less than or equal to 8.2 weeks. In math, that’s: H 0 μ ≤ 8.2

Rejecting the null hypothesis

Ten or so years ago, we believed that there were 9 planets in the solar system. Pluto was demoted as a planet in 2006. The null hypothesis of “Pluto is a planet” was replaced by “Pluto is not a planet.” Of course, rejecting the null hypothesis isn’t always that easy— the hard part is usually figuring out what your null hypothesis is in the first place.

Hypothesis Testing Examples (One Sample Z Test)

The one sample z test isn’t used very often (because we rarely know the actual population standard deviation ). However, it’s a good idea to understand how it works as it’s one of the simplest tests you can perform in hypothesis testing. In English class you got to learn the basics (like grammar and spelling) before you could write a story; think of one sample z tests as the foundation for understanding more complex hypothesis testing. This page contains two hypothesis testing examples for one sample z-tests .

One Sample Hypothesis Testing Example: One Tailed Z Test

Watch the video for an example:

A principal at a certain school claims that the students in his school are above average intelligence. A random sample of thirty students IQ scores have a mean score of 112.5. Is there sufficient evidence to support the principal’s claim? The mean population IQ is 100 with a standard deviation of 15.

Step 1: State the Null hypothesis . The accepted fact is that the population mean is 100, so: H 0 : μ = 100.

Step 2: State the Alternate Hypothesis . The claim is that the students have above average IQ scores, so: H 1 : μ > 100. The fact that we are looking for scores “greater than” a certain point means that this is a one-tailed test.

Step 4: State the alpha level . If you aren’t given an alpha level , use 5% (0.05).

Step 5: Find the rejection region area (given by your alpha level above) from the z-table . An area of .05 is equal to a z-score of 1.645.

Step 6: If Step 6 is greater than Step 5, reject the null hypothesis. If it’s less than Step 5, you cannot reject the null hypothesis. In this case, it is more (4.56 > 1.645), so you can reject the null.

One Sample Hypothesis Testing Examples: #3

Watch the video for an example of a two-tailed z-test:

Blood glucose levels for obese patients have a mean of 100 with a standard deviation of 15. A researcher thinks that a diet high in raw cornstarch will have a positive or negative effect on blood glucose levels. A sample of 30 patients who have tried the raw cornstarch diet have a mean glucose level of 140. Test the hypothesis that the raw cornstarch had an effect.

• State the null hypothesis : H 0 :μ=100
• State the alternate hypothesis : H 1 :≠100
• State your alpha level. We’ll use 0.05 for this example. As this is a two-tailed test, split the alpha into two. 0.05/2=0.025
• Find the z-score associated with your alpha level . You’re looking for the area in one tail only . A z-score for 0.75(1-0.025=0.975) is 1.96. As this is a two-tailed test, you would also be considering the left tail (z = 1.96)
•   If Step 5 is less than -1.96 or greater than 1.96 (Step 3), reject the null hypothesis . In this case, it is greater, so you can reject the null.

*This process is made much easier if you use a TI-83 or Excel to calculate the z-score (the “critical value”). See:

• Critical z value TI 83
• Z Score in Excel

Hypothesis Testing Examples: Mean (Using TI 83)

You can use the TI 83 calculator for hypothesis testing, but the calculator won’t figure out the null and alternate hypotheses; that’s up to you to read the question and input it into the calculator.

Example problem : A sample of 200 people has a mean age of 21 with a population standard deviation (σ) of 5. Test the hypothesis that the population mean is 18.9 at α = 0.05.

Step 1: State the null hypothesis. In this case, the null hypothesis is that the population mean is 18.9, so we write: H 0 : μ = 18.9

Step 2: State the alternative hypothesis. We want to know if our sample, which has a mean of 21 instead of 18.9, really is different from the population, therefore our alternate hypothesis: H 1 : μ ≠ 18.9

Step 3: Press Stat then press the right arrow twice to select TESTS.

Step 4: Press 1 to select 1:Z-Test… . Press ENTER.

Step 5: Use the right arrow to select Stats .

Step 6: Enter the data from the problem: μ 0 : 18.9 σ: 5 x : 21 n: 200 μ: ≠μ 0

Step 7: Arrow down to Calculate and press ENTER. The calculator shows the p-value: p = 2.87 × 10 -9

This is smaller than our alpha value of .05. That means we should reject the null hypothesis .

Bayesian Hypothesis Testing: What is it?

Bayesian hypothesis testing helps to answer the question: Can the results from a test or survey be repeated? Why do we care if a test can be repeated? Let’s say twenty people in the same village came down with leukemia. A group of researchers find that cell-phone towers are to blame. However, a second study found that cell-phone towers had nothing to do with the cancer cluster in the village. In fact, they found that the cancers were completely random. If that sounds impossible, it actually can happen! Clusters of cancer can happen simply by chance . There could be many reasons why the first study was faulty. One of the main reasons could be that they just didn’t take into account that sometimes things happen randomly and we just don’t know why.

It’s good science to let people know if your study results are solid, or if they could have happened by chance. The usual way of doing this is to test your results with a p-value . A p value is a number that you get by running a hypothesis test on your data. A P value of 0.05 (5%) or less is usually enough to claim that your results are repeatable. However, there’s another way to test the validity of your results: Bayesian Hypothesis testing. This type of testing gives you another way to test the strength of your results.

Traditional testing (the type you probably came across in elementary stats or AP stats) is called Non-Bayesian. It is how often an outcome happens over repeated runs of the experiment. It’s an objective view of whether an experiment is repeatable. Bayesian hypothesis testing is a subjective view of the same thing. It takes into account how much faith you have in your results. In other words, would you wager money on the outcome of your experiment?

Differences Between Traditional and Bayesian Hypothesis Testing.

Traditional testing (Non Bayesian) requires you to repeat sampling over and over, while Bayesian testing does not. The main different between the two is in the first step of testing: stating a probability model. In Bayesian testing you add prior knowledge to this step. It also requires use of a posterior probability , which is the conditional probability given to a random event after all the evidence is considered.

Arguments for Bayesian Testing.

Many researchers think that it is a better alternative to traditional testing, because it:

• Includes prior knowledge about the data.
• Takes into account personal beliefs about the results.

Arguments against.

• Including prior data or knowledge isn’t justifiable.
• It is difficult to calculate compared to non-Bayesian testing.

Back to top

Hypothesis Testing Articles

• What is Ad Hoc Testing?
• Composite Hypothesis Test
• What is a Rejection Region?
• What is a Two Tailed Test?
• How to Decide if a Hypothesis Test is a One Tailed Test or a Two Tailed Test.
• How to Decide if a Hypothesis is a Left Tailed Test or a Right-Tailed Test.
• How to State the Null Hypothesis in Statistics.
• How to Find a Critical Value .
• How to Support or Reject a Null Hypothesis.

Specific Tests:

• Brunner Munzel Test (Generalized Wilcoxon Test).
• Chi Square Test for Normality.
• Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel Test.
• Granger Causality Test .
• Hotelling’s T-Squared.
• KPSS Test .
• What is a Likelihood-Ratio Test?
• Log rank test .
• MANCOVA Assumptions.
• MANCOVA Sample Size.
• Marascuilo Procedure
• Rao’s Spacing Test
• Rayleigh test of uniformity.
• Sequential Probability Ratio Test.
• How to Run a Sign Test.
• T Test: one sample.
• T-Test: Two sample .
• Welch’s ANOVA .
• Welch’s Test for Unequal Variances .
• Z-Test: one sample .
• Z Test: Two Proportion.
• Wald Test .

Related Articles:

• What is an Acceptance Region?
• How to Calculate Chebyshev’s Theorem.
• Contrast Analysis
• Decision Rule.
• Degrees of Freedom .
• Directional Test
• False Discovery Rate
• How to calculate the Least Significant Difference.
• Levels in Statistics.
• How to Calculate Margin of Error.
• Mean Difference (Difference in Means)
• The Multiple Testing Problem .
• What is the Neyman-Pearson Lemma?
• What is an Omnibus Test?
• One Sample Median Test .
• How to Find a Sample Size (General Instructions).
• Sig 2(Tailed) meaning in results
• What is a Standardized Test Statistic?
• How to Find Standard Error
• Standardized values: Example.
• How to Calculate a T-Score.
• T-Score Vs. a Z.Score.
• Testing a Single Mean.
• Unequal Sample Sizes.
• Uniformly Most Powerful Tests.
• How to Calculate a Z-Score.

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

5.6 Hypothesis Tests in Depth

Establishing the parameter of interest, type of distribution to use, the test statistic, and p -value can help you figure out how to go about a hypothesis test. However, there are several other factors you should consider when interpreting the results.

Rare Events

Suppose you make an assumption about a property of the population (this assumption is the null hypothesis). Then you gather sample data randomly. If the sample has properties that would be very unlikely to occur if the assumption is true, then you would conclude that your assumption about the population is probably incorrect. Remember that your assumption is just an assumption; it is not a fact, and it may or may not be true. But your sample data are real and are showing you a fact that seems to contradict your assumption.

Errors in Hypothesis Tests

When you perform a hypothesis test, there are four possible outcomes depending on the actual truth (or falseness) of the null hypothesis H 0 and the decision to reject or not. The outcomes are summarized in the following table:

The four possible outcomes in the table are:

• The decision is not to reject H 0 when H 0 is true (correct decision).
• The decision is to reject H 0 when H 0 is true (incorrect decision known as a type I error ).
• The decision is not to reject H 0 when, in fact, H 0 is false (incorrect decision known as a type II error ).
• The decision is to reject H 0 when H 0 is false (correct decision whose probability is called the power of the test).

Each of the errors occurs with a particular probability. The Greek letters α and β represent the probabilities.

α = probability of a type I error = P (type I error) = probability of rejecting the null hypothesis when the null hypothesis is true. These are also known as false positives. We know that α is often determined in advance, and α = 0.05 is often widely accepted. In that case, you are saying, “We are OK making this type of error in 5% of samples.” In fact, the p -value is the exact probability of a type I error based on what you observed.

β = probability of a type II error = P (type II error) = probability of not rejecting the null hypothesis when the null hypothesis is false. These are also known as false negatives.

The power of a test is 1 – β .

Ideally, α and β should be as small as possible because they are probabilities of errors but are rarely zero. We want a high power that is as close to one as well. Increasing the sample size can help us achieve these by reducing both α and β and therefore increasing the power of the test.

Suppose the null hypothesis, H 0 , is that Frank’s rock climbing equipment is safe.

Type I error: Frank thinks that his rock climbing equipment may not be safe when, in fact, it really is safe. Type II error: Frank thinks that his rock climbing equipment may be safe when, in fact, it is not safe.

α = probability that Frank thinks his rock climbing equipment may not be safe when, in fact, it really is safe. β = probability that Frank thinks his rock climbing equipment may be safe when, in fact, it is not safe.

Notice that, in this case, the error with the greater consequence is the type II error, in which Frank thinks his rock climbing equipment is safe, so he goes ahead and uses it.

Suppose the null hypothesis, H 0 , is that the blood cultures contain no traces of pathogen X . State the type I and type II errors.

Statistical Significance vs. Practical Significance

When the sample size becomes larger, point estimates become more precise and any real differences in the mean and null value become easier to detect and recognize. Even a very small difference would likely be detected if we took a large enough sample. Sometimes, researchers will take such large samples that even the slightest difference is detected, even differences where there is no practical value. In such cases, we still say the difference is statistically significant , but it is not practically significant.

For example, an online experiment might identify that placing additional ads on a movie review website statistically significantly increases viewership of a TV show by 0.001%, but this increase might not have any practical value.

One role of a data scientist in conducting a study often includes planning the size of the study. The data scientist might first consult experts or scientific literature to learn what would be the smallest meaningful difference from the null value. She also would obtain other information, such as a very rough estimate of the true proportion p , so that she could roughly estimate the standard error. From here, she could suggest a sample size that is sufficiently large enough to detect the real difference if it is meaningful. While larger sample sizes may still be used, these calculations are especially helpful when considering costs or potential risks, such as possible health impacts to volunteers in a medical study.

Click here for more multimedia resources, including podcasts, videos, lecture notes, and worked examples.

The decision is to reject the null hypothesis when, in fact, the null hypothesis is true

Erroneously rejecting a true null hypothesis or erroneously failing to reject a false null hypothesis

The probability of failing to reject a true hypothesis

Finding sufficient evidence that the observed effect is not just due to variability, often from rejecting the null hypothesis

Significant Statistics Copyright © 2024 by John Morgan Russell, OpenStaxCollege, OpenIntro is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book

Hypothesis Testing

Hypothesis testing is a tool for making statistical inferences about the population data. It is an analysis tool that tests assumptions and determines how likely something is within a given standard of accuracy. Hypothesis testing provides a way to verify whether the results of an experiment are valid.

A null hypothesis and an alternative hypothesis are set up before performing the hypothesis testing. This helps to arrive at a conclusion regarding the sample obtained from the population. In this article, we will learn more about hypothesis testing, its types, steps to perform the testing, and associated examples.

What is Hypothesis Testing in Statistics?

Hypothesis testing uses sample data from the population to draw useful conclusions regarding the population probability distribution . It tests an assumption made about the data using different types of hypothesis testing methodologies. The hypothesis testing results in either rejecting or not rejecting the null hypothesis.

Hypothesis Testing Definition

Hypothesis testing can be defined as a statistical tool that is used to identify if the results of an experiment are meaningful or not. It involves setting up a null hypothesis and an alternative hypothesis. These two hypotheses will always be mutually exclusive. This means that if the null hypothesis is true then the alternative hypothesis is false and vice versa. An example of hypothesis testing is setting up a test to check if a new medicine works on a disease in a more efficient manner.

Null Hypothesis

The null hypothesis is a concise mathematical statement that is used to indicate that there is no difference between two possibilities. In other words, there is no difference between certain characteristics of data. This hypothesis assumes that the outcomes of an experiment are based on chance alone. It is denoted as \(H_{0}\). Hypothesis testing is used to conclude if the null hypothesis can be rejected or not. Suppose an experiment is conducted to check if girls are shorter than boys at the age of 5. The null hypothesis will say that they are the same height.

Alternative Hypothesis

The alternative hypothesis is an alternative to the null hypothesis. It is used to show that the observations of an experiment are due to some real effect. It indicates that there is a statistical significance between two possible outcomes and can be denoted as \(H_{1}\) or \(H_{a}\). For the above-mentioned example, the alternative hypothesis would be that girls are shorter than boys at the age of 5.

Hypothesis Testing P Value

In hypothesis testing, the p value is used to indicate whether the results obtained after conducting a test are statistically significant or not. It also indicates the probability of making an error in rejecting or not rejecting the null hypothesis.This value is always a number between 0 and 1. The p value is compared to an alpha level, \(\alpha\) or significance level. The alpha level can be defined as the acceptable risk of incorrectly rejecting the null hypothesis. The alpha level is usually chosen between 1% to 5%.

Hypothesis Testing Critical region

All sets of values that lead to rejecting the null hypothesis lie in the critical region. Furthermore, the value that separates the critical region from the non-critical region is known as the critical value.

Hypothesis Testing Formula

Depending upon the type of data available and the size, different types of hypothesis testing are used to determine whether the null hypothesis can be rejected or not. The hypothesis testing formula for some important test statistics are given below:

• z = \(\frac{\overline{x}-\mu}{\frac{\sigma}{\sqrt{n}}}\). \(\overline{x}\) is the sample mean, \(\mu\) is the population mean, \(\sigma\) is the population standard deviation and n is the size of the sample.
• t = \(\frac{\overline{x}-\mu}{\frac{s}{\sqrt{n}}}\). s is the sample standard deviation.
• \(\chi ^{2} = \sum \frac{(O_{i}-E_{i})^{2}}{E_{i}}\). \(O_{i}\) is the observed value and \(E_{i}\) is the expected value.

We will learn more about these test statistics in the upcoming section.

Types of Hypothesis Testing

Selecting the correct test for performing hypothesis testing can be confusing. These tests are used to determine a test statistic on the basis of which the null hypothesis can either be rejected or not rejected. Some of the important tests used for hypothesis testing are given below.

Hypothesis Testing Z Test

A z test is a way of hypothesis testing that is used for a large sample size (n ≥ 30). It is used to determine whether there is a difference between the population mean and the sample mean when the population standard deviation is known. It can also be used to compare the mean of two samples. It is used to compute the z test statistic. The formulas are given as follows:

• One sample: z = \(\frac{\overline{x}-\mu}{\frac{\sigma}{\sqrt{n}}}\).
• Two samples: z = \(\frac{(\overline{x_{1}}-\overline{x_{2}})-(\mu_{1}-\mu_{2})}{\sqrt{\frac{\sigma_{1}^{2}}{n_{1}}+\frac{\sigma_{2}^{2}}{n_{2}}}}\).

Hypothesis Testing t Test

The t test is another method of hypothesis testing that is used for a small sample size (n < 30). It is also used to compare the sample mean and population mean. However, the population standard deviation is not known. Instead, the sample standard deviation is known. The mean of two samples can also be compared using the t test.

• One sample: t = \(\frac{\overline{x}-\mu}{\frac{s}{\sqrt{n}}}\).
• Two samples: t = \(\frac{(\overline{x_{1}}-\overline{x_{2}})-(\mu_{1}-\mu_{2})}{\sqrt{\frac{s_{1}^{2}}{n_{1}}+\frac{s_{2}^{2}}{n_{2}}}}\).

Hypothesis Testing Chi Square

The Chi square test is a hypothesis testing method that is used to check whether the variables in a population are independent or not. It is used when the test statistic is chi-squared distributed.

One Tailed Hypothesis Testing

One tailed hypothesis testing is done when the rejection region is only in one direction. It can also be known as directional hypothesis testing because the effects can be tested in one direction only. This type of testing is further classified into the right tailed test and left tailed test.

Right Tailed Hypothesis Testing

The right tail test is also known as the upper tail test. This test is used to check whether the population parameter is greater than some value. The null and alternative hypotheses for this test are given as follows:

\(H_{0}\): The population parameter is ≤ some value

\(H_{1}\): The population parameter is > some value.

If the test statistic has a greater value than the critical value then the null hypothesis is rejected

Left Tailed Hypothesis Testing

The left tail test is also known as the lower tail test. It is used to check whether the population parameter is less than some value. The hypotheses for this hypothesis testing can be written as follows:

\(H_{0}\): The population parameter is ≥ some value

\(H_{1}\): The population parameter is < some value.

The null hypothesis is rejected if the test statistic has a value lesser than the critical value.

Two Tailed Hypothesis Testing

In this hypothesis testing method, the critical region lies on both sides of the sampling distribution. It is also known as a non - directional hypothesis testing method. The two-tailed test is used when it needs to be determined if the population parameter is assumed to be different than some value. The hypotheses can be set up as follows:

\(H_{0}\): the population parameter = some value

\(H_{1}\): the population parameter ≠ some value

The null hypothesis is rejected if the test statistic has a value that is not equal to the critical value.

Hypothesis Testing Steps

Hypothesis testing can be easily performed in five simple steps. The most important step is to correctly set up the hypotheses and identify the right method for hypothesis testing. The basic steps to perform hypothesis testing are as follows:

• Step 1: Set up the null hypothesis by correctly identifying whether it is the left-tailed, right-tailed, or two-tailed hypothesis testing.
• Step 2: Set up the alternative hypothesis.
• Step 3: Choose the correct significance level, \(\alpha\), and find the critical value.
• Step 4: Calculate the correct test statistic (z, t or \(\chi\)) and p-value.
• Step 5: Compare the test statistic with the critical value or compare the p-value with \(\alpha\) to arrive at a conclusion. In other words, decide if the null hypothesis is to be rejected or not.

Hypothesis Testing Example

The best way to solve a problem on hypothesis testing is by applying the 5 steps mentioned in the previous section. Suppose a researcher claims that the mean average weight of men is greater than 100kgs with a standard deviation of 15kgs. 30 men are chosen with an average weight of 112.5 Kgs. Using hypothesis testing, check if there is enough evidence to support the researcher's claim. The confidence interval is given as 95%.

Step 1: This is an example of a right-tailed test. Set up the null hypothesis as \(H_{0}\): \(\mu\) = 100.

Step 2: The alternative hypothesis is given by \(H_{1}\): \(\mu\) > 100.

Step 3: As this is a one-tailed test, \(\alpha\) = 100% - 95% = 5%. This can be used to determine the critical value.

1 - \(\alpha\) = 1 - 0.05 = 0.95

0.95 gives the required area under the curve. Now using a normal distribution table, the area 0.95 is at z = 1.645. A similar process can be followed for a t-test. The only additional requirement is to calculate the degrees of freedom given by n - 1.

Step 4: Calculate the z test statistic. This is because the sample size is 30. Furthermore, the sample and population means are known along with the standard deviation.

z = \(\frac{\overline{x}-\mu}{\frac{\sigma}{\sqrt{n}}}\).

\(\mu\) = 100, \(\overline{x}\) = 112.5, n = 30, \(\sigma\) = 15

z = \(\frac{112.5-100}{\frac{15}{\sqrt{30}}}\) = 4.56

Step 5: Conclusion. As 4.56 > 1.645 thus, the null hypothesis can be rejected.

Hypothesis Testing and Confidence Intervals

Confidence intervals form an important part of hypothesis testing. This is because the alpha level can be determined from a given confidence interval. Suppose a confidence interval is given as 95%. Subtract the confidence interval from 100%. This gives 100 - 95 = 5% or 0.05. This is the alpha value of a one-tailed hypothesis testing. To obtain the alpha value for a two-tailed hypothesis testing, divide this value by 2. This gives 0.05 / 2 = 0.025.

Related Articles:

• Probability and Statistics
• Data Handling

Important Notes on Hypothesis Testing

• Hypothesis testing is a technique that is used to verify whether the results of an experiment are statistically significant.
• It involves the setting up of a null hypothesis and an alternate hypothesis.
• There are three types of tests that can be conducted under hypothesis testing - z test, t test, and chi square test.
• Hypothesis testing can be classified as right tail, left tail, and two tail tests.

Examples on Hypothesis Testing

• Example 1: The average weight of a dumbbell in a gym is 90lbs. However, a physical trainer believes that the average weight might be higher. A random sample of 5 dumbbells with an average weight of 110lbs and a standard deviation of 18lbs. Using hypothesis testing check if the physical trainer's claim can be supported for a 95% confidence level. Solution: As the sample size is lesser than 30, the t-test is used. \(H_{0}\): \(\mu\) = 90, \(H_{1}\): \(\mu\) > 90 \(\overline{x}\) = 110, \(\mu\) = 90, n = 5, s = 18. \(\alpha\) = 0.05 Using the t-distribution table, the critical value is 2.132 t = \(\frac{\overline{x}-\mu}{\frac{s}{\sqrt{n}}}\) t = 2.484 As 2.484 > 2.132, the null hypothesis is rejected. Answer: The average weight of the dumbbells may be greater than 90lbs
• Example 2: The average score on a test is 80 with a standard deviation of 10. With a new teaching curriculum introduced it is believed that this score will change. On random testing, the score of 38 students, the mean was found to be 88. With a 0.05 significance level, is there any evidence to support this claim? Solution: This is an example of two-tail hypothesis testing. The z test will be used. \(H_{0}\): \(\mu\) = 80, \(H_{1}\): \(\mu\) ≠ 80 \(\overline{x}\) = 88, \(\mu\) = 80, n = 36, \(\sigma\) = 10. \(\alpha\) = 0.05 / 2 = 0.025 The critical value using the normal distribution table is 1.96 z = \(\frac{\overline{x}-\mu}{\frac{\sigma}{\sqrt{n}}}\) z = \(\frac{88-80}{\frac{10}{\sqrt{36}}}\) = 4.8 As 4.8 > 1.96, the null hypothesis is rejected. Answer: There is a difference in the scores after the new curriculum was introduced.
• Example 3: The average score of a class is 90. However, a teacher believes that the average score might be lower. The scores of 6 students were randomly measured. The mean was 82 with a standard deviation of 18. With a 0.05 significance level use hypothesis testing to check if this claim is true. Solution: The t test will be used. \(H_{0}\): \(\mu\) = 90, \(H_{1}\): \(\mu\) < 90 \(\overline{x}\) = 110, \(\mu\) = 90, n = 6, s = 18 The critical value from the t table is -2.015 t = \(\frac{\overline{x}-\mu}{\frac{s}{\sqrt{n}}}\) t = \(\frac{82-90}{\frac{18}{\sqrt{6}}}\) t = -1.088 As -1.088 > -2.015, we fail to reject the null hypothesis. Answer: There is not enough evidence to support the claim.

go to slide go to slide go to slide

Book a Free Trial Class

FAQs on Hypothesis Testing

What is hypothesis testing.

Hypothesis testing in statistics is a tool that is used to make inferences about the population data. It is also used to check if the results of an experiment are valid.

What is the z Test in Hypothesis Testing?

The z test in hypothesis testing is used to find the z test statistic for normally distributed data . The z test is used when the standard deviation of the population is known and the sample size is greater than or equal to 30.

What is the t Test in Hypothesis Testing?

The t test in hypothesis testing is used when the data follows a student t distribution . It is used when the sample size is less than 30 and standard deviation of the population is not known.

What is the formula for z test in Hypothesis Testing?

The formula for a one sample z test in hypothesis testing is z = \(\frac{\overline{x}-\mu}{\frac{\sigma}{\sqrt{n}}}\) and for two samples is z = \(\frac{(\overline{x_{1}}-\overline{x_{2}})-(\mu_{1}-\mu_{2})}{\sqrt{\frac{\sigma_{1}^{2}}{n_{1}}+\frac{\sigma_{2}^{2}}{n_{2}}}}\).

What is the p Value in Hypothesis Testing?

The p value helps to determine if the test results are statistically significant or not. In hypothesis testing, the null hypothesis can either be rejected or not rejected based on the comparison between the p value and the alpha level.

What is One Tail Hypothesis Testing?

When the rejection region is only on one side of the distribution curve then it is known as one tail hypothesis testing. The right tail test and the left tail test are two types of directional hypothesis testing.

What is the Alpha Level in Two Tail Hypothesis Testing?

To get the alpha level in a two tail hypothesis testing divide \(\alpha\) by 2. This is done as there are two rejection regions in the curve.

The Genius Blog

Hypothesis Testing Solved Examples(Questions and Solutions)

Here is a list hypothesis testing exercises and solutions. Try to solve a question by yourself first before you look at the solution.

Question 1 In the population, the average IQ is 100 with a standard deviation of 15. A team of scientists want to test a new medication to see if it has either a positive or negative effect on intelligence, or not effect at all. A sample of 30 participants who have taken the medication  has a mean of 140. Did the medication affect intelligence? View Solution to Question 1

A professor wants to know if her introductory statistics class has a good grasp of basic math. Six students are chosen at random from the class and given a math proficiency test. The professor wants the class to be able to score above 70 on the test. The six students get the following scores:62, 92, 75, 68, 83, 95. Can the professor have 90% confidence that the mean score for the class on the test would be above 70. Solution to Question 2

Question 3 In a packaging plant, a machine packs cartons with jars. It is supposed that a new machine would pack faster on the average than the machine currently used. To test the hypothesis, the time it takes each machine to pack ten cartons are recorded. The result in seconds is as follows.

Do the data provide sufficient evidence to conclude that, on the average, the new machine packs faster? Perform  the required hypothesis test at the 5% level of significance. Solution to Question 3 

Question 4 We want to compare the heights in inches of two groups of individuals. Here are the measurements: X: 175, 168, 168, 190, 156, 181, 182, 175, 174, 179 Y:  120, 180, 125, 188, 130, 190, 110, 185, 112, 188 Solution to Question 4 

Question 5 A clinic provides a program to help their clients lose weight and asks a consumer agency to investigate the effectiveness of the program. The agency takes a sample of 15 people, weighing each person in the sample before the program begins and 3 months later. The results a tabulated below

Determine is the program is effective. Solution to Question 5

Question 6 A sample of 20 students were selected and given a diagnostic module prior to studying for a test. And then they were given the test again after completing the module. . The result of the students scores in the test before and after the test is tabulated below.

We want to see if there is significant improvement in the student’s performance due to this teaching method Solution to Question 6 

Question 7 A study was performed to test wether cars get better mileage on premium gas than on regular gas. Each of 10 cars was first filled with regular or premium gas, decided by a coin toss, and the mileage for the tank was recorded. The mileage was recorded again for the same cars using other kind of gasoline. Determine wether cars get significantly better mileage with premium gas.

Mileage with regular gas: 16,20,21,22,23,22,27,25,27,28 Mileage with premium gas: 19, 22,24,24,25,25,26,26,28,32 Solution to Question 7 

Question 8  An automatic cutter machine must cut steel strips of 1200 mm length. From a preliminary data, we checked that the lengths of the pieces produced by the machine can be considered as normal random variables  with a 3mm standard deviation. We want to make sure that the machine is set correctly. Therefore 16 pieces of the products are randomly selected and weight. The figures were in mm: 1193,1196,1198,1195,1198,1199,1204,1193,1203,1201,1196,1200,1191,1196,1198,1191 Examine wether there is any significant deviation from the required size Solution to Question 8

Question 9 Blood pressure reading of ten patients before and after medication for reducing the blood pressure are as follows

Patient: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 Before treatment: 86,84,78,90,92,77,89,90,90,86 After treatment:    80,80,92,79,92,82,88,89,92,83

Test the null hypothesis of no effect agains the alternate hypothesis that medication is effective. Execute it with Wilcoxon test Solution to Question 9

Question on ANOVA Sussan Sound predicts that students will learn most effectively with a constant background sound, as opposed to an unpredictable sound or no sound at all. She randomly divides 24 students into three groups of 8 each. All students study a passage of text for 30 minutes. Those in group 1 study with background sound at a constant volume in the background. Those in group 2 study with nose that changes volume periodically. Those in group 3 study with no sound at all. After studying, all students take a 10 point multiple choice test over the material. Their scores are tabulated below.

Group1: Constant sound: 7,4,6,8,6,6,2,9 Group 2: Random sound: 5,5,3,4,4,7,2,2 Group 3: No sound at all: 2,4,7,1,2,1,5,5 Solution to Question 10

Question 11 Using the following three groups of data, perform a one-way analysis of variance using α  = 0.05.

Solution to Question 11

Question 12 In a packaging plant, a machine packs cartons with jars. It is supposed that a new machine would pack faster on the average than the machine currently used. To test the hypothesis, the time it takes each machine to pack ten cartons are recorded. The result in seconds is as follows.

New Machine: 42,41,41.3,41.8,42.4,42.8,43.2,42.3,41.8,42.7 Old Machine:  42.7,43.6,43.8,43.3,42.5,43.5,43.1,41.7,44,44.1

Perform an F-test to determine if the null hypothesis should be accepted. Solution to Question 12

Question 13 A random sample 500 U.S adults are questioned about their political affiliation and opinion on a tax reform bill. We need to test if the political affiliation and their opinon on a tax reform bill are dependent, at 5% level of significance. The observed contingency table is given below.

Solution to Question 13

Question 14 Can a dice be considered regular which is showing the following frequency distribution during 1000 throws?

Solution to Question 14

Solution to Question 15

Question 16 A newly developed muesli contains five types of seeds (A, B, C, D and E). The percentage of which is 35%, 25%, 20%, 10% and 10% according to the product information. In a randomly selected muesli, the following volume distribution was found.

Lets us decide about the null hypothesis whether the composition of the sample corresponds to the distribution indicated on the packaging at alpha = 0.1 significance level. Solution to Question 16

Question 17 A research team investigated whether there was any significant correlation between the severity of a certain disease runoff and the age of the patients. During the study, data for n = 200 patients were collected and grouped according to the severity of the disease and the age of the patient. The table below shows the result

Let us decided about the correlation between the age of the patients and the severity of disease progression. Solution to Question 17

Question 18 A publisher is interested in determine which of three book cover is most attractive. He interviews 400 people in each of the three states (California, Illinois and New York), and asks each person which of the  cover he or she prefers. The number of preference for each cover is as follows:

Do these data indicate that there are regional differences in people’s preferences concerning these covers? Use the 0.05 level of significance. Solution to Question 18

Question 19 Trees planted along the road were checked for which ones are healthy(H) or diseased (D) and the following arrangement of the trees were obtained:

H H H H D D D H H H H H H H D D H H D D D

Test at the    = 0.05 significance wether this arrangement may be regarded as random

Solution to Question 19 

Question 20 Suppose we flip a coin n = 15 times and come up with the following arrangements

H T T T H H T T T T H H T H H

(H = head, T = tail)

Test at the alpha = 0.05 significance level whether this arrangement may be regarded as random.

Solution to Question 20

kindsonthegenius

You might also like, hypothesis testing question 19 – run test ( trees were planted…), how to perform fisher’s test (f-test) – example question 12, how to perform mann-witney u test(step by step) – hypothesis testing.

I am really impressed with your writing abilities as well as with the structure to your weblog. Is this a paid subject matter or did you modify it yourself?

Either way stay up the excellent high quality writing, it’s uncommon to look a great blog like this one these days..

Below are given the gain in weights (in lbs.) of pigs fed on two diet A and B Dieta 25 32 30 34 24 14 32 24 30 31 35 25 – – DietB 44 34 22 10 47 31 40 30 32 35 18 21 35 29

What Is Hypothesis Testing? An In-Depth Guide with Python Examples

Hypothesis testing allows us to make data-driven decisions by testing assertions about populations. It is the backbone behind scientific research, business analytics, financial modeling, and more.

This comprehensive guide aims to solidify your understanding with:

• Explanations of key terminology and the overall hypothesis testing process
• Python code examples for t-tests, z-tests, chi-squared, and other methods
• Real-world examples spanning science, business, politics, and technology
• A frank discussion around limitations and misapplications
• Next steps to mastering practical statistics with Python

So let‘s get comfortable with making statements, gathering evidence, and letting the data speak!

Fundamentals of Hypothesis Testing

Hypothesis testing is structured around making a claim in the form of competing hypotheses, gathering data, performing statistical tests, and making decisions about which hypothesis the evidence supports.

Here are some key terms about hypotheses and the testing process:

Null Hypothesis ($H_0$): The default statement about a population parameter. Generally asserts that there is no statistical significance between two data sets or that a sample parameter equals some claimed population parameter value. The statement being tested that is either rejected or supported.

Alternative Hypothesis ($H_1$): The statement that sample observations indicate statistically significant effect or difference from what the null hypothesis states. $H_1$ and $H_0$ are mutually exclusive, meaning if statistical tests support rejecting $H_0$, then you conclude $H_1$ has strong evidence.

Significance Level ($\alpha$): The probability of incorrectly rejecting a true null hypothesis, known as making a Type I error. Common significance levels are 90%, 95%, and 99%. The lower significance level, the more strict the criteria is for rejecting $H_0$.

Test Statistic: Summary calculations of sample data including mean, proportion, correlation coefficient, etc. Used to determine statistical significance and improbability under $H_0$.

P-value: Probability of obtaining sample results at least as extreme as the test statistic, assuming $H_0$ is true. Small p-values indicate strong statistical evidence against the null hypothesis.

Type I Error: Incorrectly rejecting a true null hypothesis

Type II Error : Failing to reject a false null hypothesis

These terms set the stage for the overall process:

1. Make Hypotheses

Define the null ($H_0$) and alternative hypothesis ($H_1$).

2. Set Significance Level

Typical significance levels are 90%, 95%, and 99%. Higher significance means more strict burden of proof for rejecting $H_0$.

3. Collect Data

Gather sample and population data related to the hypotheses under examination.

4. Determine Test Statistic

Calculate relevant test statistics like p-value, z-score, t-statistic, etc along with degrees of freedom.

5. Compare to Significance Level

If the test statistic falls in the critical region based on the significance, reject $H_0$, otherwise fail to reject $H_0$.

6. Draw Conclusions

Make determinations about hypotheses given the statistical evidence and context of the situation.

Now that you know the process and objectives, let’s apply this to some concrete examples.

Python Examples of Hypothesis Tests

We‘ll demonstrate hypothesis testing using Numpy, Scipy, Pandas and simulated data sets. Specifically, we‘ll conduct and interpret:

• Two sample t-tests
• Paired t-tests
• Chi-squared tests

These represent some of the most widely used methods for determining statistical significance between groups.

We‘ll plot the data distributions to check normality assumptions where applicable. And determine if evidence exists to reject the null hypotheses across several scenarios.

Two Sample T-Test with NumPy

Two sample t-tests determine whether the mean of a numerical variable differs significantly across two independent groups. It assumes observations follow approximate normal distributions within each group, but not that variances are equal.

Let‘s test for differences in reported salaries at hypothetical Company X vs Company Y:

$H_0$ : Average reported salaries are equal at Company X and Company Y

$H_1$ : Average reported salaries differ between Company X and Company Y

First we‘ll simulate salary samples for each company based on random normal distributions, set a 95% confidence level, run the t-test using NumPy, then interpret.

The t-statistic of 9.35 shows the difference between group means is nearly 9.5 standard errors. The very small p-value rejects the idea the salaries are equal across a randomly sampled population of employees.

Since the test returned a p-value lower than the significance level, we reject $H_0$, meaning evidence supports $H_1$ that average reported salaries differ between these hypothetical companies.

Paired T-Test with Pandas

While an independent groups t-test analyzes mean differences between distinct groups, a paired t-test looks for significant effects pre vs post some treatment within the same set of subjects. This helps isolate causal impacts by removing effects from confounding individual differences.

Let‘s analyze Amazon purchase data to determine if spending increases during the holiday months of November and December.

$H_0$ : Average monthly spending is equal pre-holiday and during the holiday season

$H_1$ : Average monthly spending increases during the holiday season

We‘ll import transaction data using Pandas, add seasonal categories, then run and interpret the paired t-test.

Since the p-value is below the 0.05 significance level, we reject $H_0$. The output shows statistically significant evidence at 95% confidence that average spending increases during November-December relative to January-October.

Visualizing the monthly trend helps confirm the spike during the holiday months.

Single Sample Z-Test with NumPy

A single sample z-test allows testing whether a sample mean differs significantly from a population mean. It requires knowing the population standard deviation.

Let‘s test if recently surveyed shoppers differ significantly in their reported ages from the overall customer base:

$H_0$ : Sample mean age equals population mean age of 39

$H_1$ : Sample mean age does not equal population mean of 39

Here the absolute z-score over 2 and p-value under 0.05 indicates statistically significant evidence that recently surveyed shopper ages differ from the overall population parameter.

Chi-Squared Test with SciPy

Chi-squared tests help determine independence between categorical variables. The test statistic measures deviations between observed and expected outcome frequencies across groups to determine magnitude of relationship.

Let‘s test if credit card application approvals are independent across income groups using simulated data:

$H_0$ : Credit card approvals are independent of income level

$H_1$ : Credit approvals and income level are related

Since the p-value is greater than the 0.05 significance level, we fail to reject $H_0$. There is not sufficient statistical evidence to conclude that credit card approval rates differ by income categories.

ANOVA with StatsModels

Analysis of variance (ANOVA) hypothesis tests determine if mean differences exist across more than two groups. ANOVA expands upon t-tests for multiple group comparisons.

Let‘s test if average debt obligations vary depending on highest education level attained.

$H_0$ : Average debt obligations are equal across education levels

$H_1$ : Average debt obligations differ based on education level

We‘ll simulate ordered education and debt data for visualization via box plots and then run ANOVA.

The ANOVA output shows an F-statistic of 91.59 that along with a tiny p-value leads to rejecting $H_0$. We conclude there are statistically significant differences in average debt obligations based on highest degree attained.

The box plots visualize these distributions and means vary across four education attainment groups.

Real World Hypothesis Testing

Hypothesis testing forms the backbone of data-driven decision making across science, research, business, public policy and more by allowing practitioners to draw statistically-validated conclusions.

Here is a sample of hypotheses commonly tested:

• Ecommerce sites test if interface updates increase user conversions
• Ridesharing platforms analyze if surge pricing reduces wait times
• Subscription services assess if free trial length impacts customer retention
• Manufacturers test if new production processes improve output yields

Pharmaceuticals

• Drug companies test efficacy of developed compounds against placebo groups
• Clinical researchers evaluate impacts of interventions on disease factors
• Epidemiologists study if particular biomarkers differ in afflicted populations
• Software engineers measure if algorithm optimizations improve runtime complexity
• Autonomous vehicles assess whether new sensors reduce accident rates
• Information security analyzes if software updates decrease vulnerability exploits

Politics & Social Sciences

• Pollsters determine if candidate messaging influences voter preference
• Sociologists analyze if income immobility changed across generations
• Climate scientists examine anthropogenic factors contributing to extreme weather

This represents just a sample of the wide ranging real-world applications. Properly formulated hypotheses, statistical testing methodology, reproducible analysis, and unbiased interpretation helps ensure valid reliable findings.

However, hypothesis testing does still come with some limitations worth addressing.

Limitations and Misapplications

While hypothesis testing empowers huge breakthroughs across disciplines, the methodology does come with some inherent restrictions:

Over-reliance on p-values

P-values help benchmark statistical significance, but should not be over-interpreted. A large p-value does not necessarily mean the null hypothesis is 100% true for the entire population. And small p-values do not directly prove causality as confounding factors always exist.

Significance also does not indicate practical real-world effect size. Statistical power calculations should inform necessary sample sizes to detect desired effects.

Errors from Multiple Tests

Running many hypothesis tests by chance produces some false positives due to randomness. Analysts should account for this by adjusting significance levels, pre-registering testing plans, replicating findings, and relying more on meta-analyses.

Poor Experimental Design

Bad data, biased samples, unspecified variables, and lack of controls can completely undermine results. Findings can only be reasonably extended to populations reflected by the test samples.

Garbage in, garbage out definitely applies to statistical analysis!

Assumption Violations

Most common statistical tests make assumptions about normality, homogeneity of variance, independent samples, underlying variable relationships. Violating these premises invalidates reliability.

Transformations, bootstrapping, or non-parametric methods can help navigate issues for sound methodology.

Lack of Reproducibility

The replication crisis impacting scientific research highlights issues around lack of reproducibility, especially involving human participants and high complexity systems. Randomized controlled experiments with strong statistical power provide much more reliable evidence.

While hypothesis testing methodology is rigorously developed, applying concepts correctly proves challenging even among academics and experts!

Next Level Hypothesis Testing Mastery

We‘ve covered core concepts, Python implementations, real-world use cases, and inherent limitations around hypothesis testing. What should you master next?

Parametric vs Non-parametric

Learn assumptions and application differences between parametric statistics like z-tests and t-tests that assume normal distributions versus non-parametric analogs like Wilcoxon signed-rank tests and Mann-Whitney U tests.

Effect Size and Power

Look beyond just p-values to determine practical effect magnitude using indexes like Cohen‘s D. And ensure appropriate sample sizes to detect effects using prospective power analysis.

Alternatives to NHST

Evaluate Bayesian inference models and likelihood ratios that move beyond binary reject/fail-to-reject null hypothesis outcomes toward more integrated evidence.

Tiered Testing Framework

Construct reusable classes encapsulating data processing, visualizations, assumption checking, and statistical tests for maintainable analysis code.

Big Data Integration

Connect statistical analysis to big data pipelines pulling from databases, data lakes and APIs at scale. Productionize analytics.

I hope this end-to-end look at hypothesis testing methodology, Python programming demonstrations, real-world grounding, inherent restrictions and next level considerations provides a launchpad for practically applying core statistics! Please subscribe using the form below for more data science tutorials.

Dr. Alex Mitchell is a dedicated coding instructor with a deep passion for teaching and a wealth of experience in computer science education. As a university professor, Dr. Mitchell has played a pivotal role in shaping the coding skills of countless students, helping them navigate the intricate world of programming languages and software development.

Beyond the classroom, Dr. Mitchell is an active contributor to the freeCodeCamp community, where he regularly shares his expertise through tutorials, code examples, and practical insights. His teaching repertoire includes a wide range of languages and frameworks, such as Python, JavaScript, Next.js, and React, which he presents in an accessible and engaging manner.

Dr. Mitchell’s approach to teaching blends academic rigor with real-world applications, ensuring that his students not only understand the theory but also how to apply it effectively. His commitment to education and his ability to simplify complex topics have made him a respected figure in both the university and online learning communities.

Similar Posts

Intro to Property-Based Testing in Python

Property-based testing is an innovative technique for testing software through specifying invariant properties rather than manual…

What is Docker? Learn How to Use Containers – Explained with Examples

Docker‘s lightweight container virtualization has revolutionized development workflows. This comprehensive guide demystifies Docker fundamentals while equipping…

How to Create a Timeline Component with React

As a full-stack developer, building reusable UI components is a key skill. In this comprehensive 3200+…

A Brief History of the Command Line

The command line interface (CLI) has been a constant companion of programmers, system administrators and power…

Why I love Vim: It’s the lesser-known features that make it so amazing

Credit: Unsplash Vim has been my go-to text editor for years. As a full-stack developer, I…

How I Started the Process of Healing a Dying Software Group

As the new manager of a struggling 20-person software engineering team, I faced serious challenges that…

Pardon Our Interruption

As you were browsing something about your browser made us think you were a bot. There are a few reasons this might happen:

• You've disabled JavaScript in your web browser.
• You're a power user moving through this website with super-human speed.
• You've disabled cookies in your web browser.
• A third-party browser plugin, such as Ghostery or NoScript, is preventing JavaScript from running. Additional information is available in this support article .

To regain access, please make sure that cookies and JavaScript are enabled before reloading the page.

• School Guide
• Mathematics
• Number System and Arithmetic
• Trigonometry
• Probability
• Mensuration
• Maths Formulas
• Class 8 Maths Notes
• Class 9 Maths Notes
• Class 10 Maths Notes
• Class 11 Maths Notes
• Class 12 Maths Notes

How to Calculate Test Statistic

In statistical hypothesis testing, a test statistic is a crucial tool used to determine the validity of the hypothesis about a population parameter. This article delves into the calculation of test statistics exploring its importance in hypothesis testing and its application in real-world scenarios. Understanding how to compute and interpret test statistics is essential for students and professionals in various fields including data analysis, research and quality control.

Table of Content

Test Statistic

Types of test statistic, z-statistic, t-statistic, chi-square statistic, f-statistic, examples with solutions, example for z-statistic, example for t-statistic, example for chi-square statistic, example for f-statistic.

A test statistic is a value calculated from sample data during a hypothesis test. It is used to decide whether to reject the null hypothesis. The test statistic measures how far the sample data is from what we would expect under the null hypothesis. Depending on the type of test (e.g., t-test, chi-square test, etc.), the test statistic is compared to a critical value or used to calculate a p-value, which helps in determining the statistical significance of the results.

In simpler terms, think of a test statistic as a number that tells us how much the sample data stands out from what we expect if there’s no real effect or difference. If this number is big enough, we might conclude that something interesting is happening in the data.

There are many types of test statistic:

When the sample size is large and population variance is known, we can use z-statistic.

Formula for Z-Statistic is:

[Tex]Z = \frac{\bar{X} – \mu}{\frac{\sigma}{\sqrt{n}}} [/Tex]

• [Tex]\bar{X}[/Tex] = Sample mean
• [Tex]\mu[/Tex] = Population mean
• [Tex]\sigma[/Tex] = Population standard deviation
• n = Sample size

Read More about Z-test .

When the sample size is small [Tex] n \leq 30 [/Tex] or population variance is unknown, we can use t-statistic.

Formula for t-statistic is:

[Tex]T = \frac{\bar{X} – \mu}{\frac{s}{\sqrt{n}}} [/Tex]

• s = Sample standard deviation

Read More about t-test .

For categorical data to test the independence of the two variables or goodness of fit, we can use chi-square statistic.

Formula for chi-square statistic is:

[Tex]\chi^2 = \sum \frac{(O_i – E_i)^2}{E_i} [/Tex]

• [Tex]O_i[/Tex] = Observed frequency
• [Tex]E_i[/Tex] = Expected frequency

Read More about Chi-square test .

For comparing variances between the two or more groups often used in the ANOVA, we can use f-statistic.

Formula for f-statistic is:

[Tex]F = \frac{\text{Variance between groups}}{\text{Variance within groups}} [/Tex]

Problem: A manufacturer claims that the mean weight of their product is 200 grams. A sample of 30 products has a mean weight of 198 grams with the known population standard deviation of the 5 grams. The Test the claim at a 0.05 significance level.

Hypotheses: Null Hypothesis [Tex]H_0: \mu = 200[/Tex] Alternative Hypothesis [Tex]H_1: \mu \neq 200[/Tex] Test Statistic: [Tex]Z = \frac{\bar{X} – \mu}{\frac{\sigma}{\sqrt{n}}} = \frac{198 – 200}{\frac{5}{\sqrt{30}}} \approx -2.19 [/Tex] Critical Value: For a two-tailed test at [Tex] \alpha = 0.05 [/Tex] critical values are [Tex] \pm 1.96[/Tex] . Decision: Since -2.19 < -1.96 reject the null hypothesis.

Problem: A researcher wants to the test if the average test score of the class differs from the 75. A sample of the 15 students has an average score of 78 with the sample standard deviation of 10. The Test the hypothesis at the 0.01 significance level.

Hypotheses: Null Hypothesis [Tex]H_0: \mu = 75[/Tex] Alternative Hypothesis [Tex]H_1: \mu \neq 75[/Tex] Test Statistic: [Tex]T = \frac{\bar{X} – \mu}{\frac{s}{\sqrt{n}}} = \frac{78 – 75}{\frac{10}{\sqrt{15}}} \approx 2.32 [/Tex] Critical Value: For a two-tailed test with the df = 14 and [Tex]\alpha = 0.01[/Tex] critical values are [Tex] \pm 2.977[/Tex] . Decision: Since 2.32 < 2.977 do not reject the null hypothesis.

Problem: A survey of 100 people found the following preferences for the types of movies: Action (30), Comedy (20), Drama (25) and Horror (25). Test if the preferences are equally distributed at the 0.05 significance level.

Hypotheses: Null Hypothesis [Tex]H_0[/Tex] : Preferences are equally distributed. Alternative Hypothesis [Tex]H_1[/Tex] : Preferences are not equally distributed. Expected Frequencies: All categories should have 25 expected frequency. Test Statistic: [Tex]\chi^2 = \sum \frac{(O_i – E_i)^2}{E_i} = \frac{(30 – 25)^2}{25} + \frac{(20 – 25)^2}{25} + \frac{(25 – 25)^2}{25} + \frac{(25 – 25)^2}{25} = 4 + 1 + 0 + 0 = 5[/Tex] Critical Value: For [Tex]df = 3 [/Tex] and [Tex]\alpha = 0.05[/Tex] critical value is 7.815. Decision: Since 5 < 7.815 do not reject the null hypothesis.

Problem: Two different types of fertilizers were tested to the compare their effects on the plant growth. The variance in plant height for the Fertilizer A is 16 and for Fertilizer B is 25. Test if the variances are equal at the 0.05 significance level.

Hypotheses: Null Hypothesis [Tex]H_0: \sigma_1^2 = \sigma_2^2[/Tex] Alternative Hypothesis [Tex]H_1: \sigma_1^2 \neq \sigma_2^2[/Tex] Test Statistic: [Tex]F = \frac{\text{Variance of Fertilizer B}}{\text{Variance of Fertilizer A}} = \frac{25}{16} = 1.56 [/Tex] Critical Value: For [Tex]df_1 = 1[/Tex] and [Tex]df_2 = 1[/Tex] critical value is 18.51. Decision: Since 1.56 < 18.51 do not reject the null hypothesis.

Practice Questions

Question 1: A sample of 50 students has an average height of 165 cm. The population standard deviation is 8 cm. Test if the sample mean is significantly different from the 170 cm at a 0.01 significance level.

Question 2: An online retailer claims that 40% of their customers are repeat buyers. A survey of 200 customers shows that 85 are repeat buyers. Test this claim at a 0.05 significance level.

Question 3: A factory claims that the average lifespan of its light bulbs is 1200 hours. A sample of 20 bulbs has an average lifespan of 1180 hours with the standard deviation of the 50 hours. Test the factory’s claim at a 0.05 significance level.

Question 4: A researcher wants to test if there is a significant difference in the mean scores of two different teaching methods. Method A has a mean score of 85 with a standard deviation of 10 and Method B has a mean score of 80 with the standard deviation of 12. Assume the sample size for both the methods is 25. Test the hypothesis at the 0.05 significance level.

Question 5: A company wants to test if their new product’s defect rate is less than 5%. A sample of 150 products shows that 6 are defective. Test the claim at a 0.01 significance level.

Question 6: We have two independent samples with the following the statistics: Sample 1 (n=15, mean=25, variance=9) and Sample 2 (n=20, mean=22, variance=16). Test if the variances are equal at a 0.05 significance level.

Question 7: A drug manufacturer wants to test if the average recovery time with their new drug is less than the historical average of 30 days. A sample of 12 patients has an average recovery time of 28 days with the standard deviation of 4 days. Test the claim at a 0.05 significance level.

Question 8: In a study of customer satisfaction the variance of the satisfaction scores in two different regions is compared. Region 1 has a variance of 25 and Region 2 has a variance of the 36. The Test if the variances are equal at a 0.05 significance level.

Question 9: An agricultural experiment compares the effects of the two fertilizers on the crop yield. The Fertilizer A yields a mean of 50 kg/acre with the standard deviation of 5 kg/acre and Fertilizer B yields a mean of 55 kg/acre with a standard deviation of the 6 kg/acre. If the sample sizes are both 20 test if the mean yields are significantly different at a 0.05 significance level.

Question 10: A company tests whether the average time to assemble a product is different from expected 45 minutes. The sample of 25 assembly times has a mean of the 47 minutes with the standard deviation of 3 minutes. Test the company’s claim at a 0.05 significance level.

FAQs on How to Calculate Test Statistic

What is a test statistic.

A test statistic is a standardized value used to the test a hypothesis about a population parameter.

How do you choose between a Z-test and a T-test?

The Use a Z-test for the large samples or known population variance and a T-test for the small samples or unknown variance.

What is the significance level in hypothesis testing?

The significance level is the probability of the rejecting the null hypothesis when it is actually true commonly set at 0.05 or 0.01.

How do you interpret the results of a chi-square test?

The Compare the chi-square statistic to the critical values from the chi-square distribution to the determine if there is a significant difference between the observed and expected frequencies.

What is the purpose of the F-statistic in ANOVA?

The F-statistic is used to the compare the variances between the different groups to the determine if there are significant differences among group means.

Please Login to comment...

Similar reads.

• Engineering Mathematics
• Math-Statistics
• 105 Funny Things to Do to Make Someone Laugh
• Best PS5 SSDs in 2024: Top Picks for Expanding Your Storage
• Best Nintendo Switch Controllers in 2024
• Xbox Game Pass Ultimate: Features, Benefits, and Pricing in 2024
• #geekstreak2024 – 21 Days POTD Challenge Powered By Deutsche Bank

Improve your Coding Skills with Practice

What kind of Experience do you want to share?