Testing of
Hypothesis
Ajay Kumar, Ph. D.
Statistical Inferences
• The statistical inference broadly
classified into two categories:
Theory of Estimation
Testing of Hypothesis
Theory of Estimation
Unbiasedness
Consistency
Point Estimation
Efficiency
Theory of
Sufficiency
Estimation
Confidence Limits
Interval Estimation
Sampling
Testing of Hypothesis
• A hypothesis, in a scientific context, is a testable
statement about the relationship between two or
more variables or a proposed explanation for some
observed phenomenon.
• Hypotheses are usually written as if-then
statements.
• For example, if someone eats too much sugar, then
they will develop diabetes in their body.
Hypothesis in Research
• A research hypothesis is a statement of
expectation or prediction that will be tested
by research.
• In a scientific experiment or study, the
hypothesis is a brief summation of the
researcher's prediction of the study's
findings, which may be supported or not by
the outcome.
• Hypothesis testing is the core of the scientific
method.
Terminologies
• Null hypothesis
• Alternative hypothesis
• Critical region
• Hypothesis testing P value
• Hypothesis testing formula
• Significance level
• Error types
• Significance value
• Critical value
Null hypothesis
• The null hypothesis is a typical statistical
theory which suggests that no statistical
relationship and significance exists in a set of
given single observed variable, between two
sets of observed data and measured
phenomena.
• The word “null” in this context means that it's a
commonly accepted fact that researchers
work to nullify.
Alternative hypothesis
• Any hypothesis which is complementary to the null hypothesis is called
an alternative hypothesis.
• It is usually denoted by h1.
• It is very important to explicitly state the alternative hypothesis in
respect of any null hypothesis (h0).
• In case of null hypothesis (h0) the population has a significance mean
µ0, i.e.,
h0: µ = µ0
then the alternative hypothesis could be:
h1: µ ≠ µ0
h1: µ > µ0 (right tailed)
h1: µ < µ0 (left tailed)
Hypothesis testing P value
• The p-value is a number, calculated from a
statistical test, that describes how likely you are
to have found a particular set of observations if
the null hypothesis were true. P-values are used
in hypothesis testing to help decide whether to
reject the null hypothesis.
• The smaller the p-value, the more likely you are
to reject the null hypothesis.
• In another words, the p-value, or probability
value, tells you how likely it is that your data could
have occurred under the null hypothesis.
Error types
• Type 1 error
• Type 2 error
Reject Accept
True Wrong (Type 1 error) Correct
False Correct Wrong (Type 2 error)
Examples: -
• Type I error (false positive): the test result says you
have coronavirus, but you actually don't.
• Type II error (false negative): the test result says
you don't have coronavirus, but you actually do.
Significance level
• The maximum size of the type 1 error, which we are prepared to
risk is known as level of significance.
• It is usually denoted by alpha (α).
P[Rejecting H0 when H0 is true] = α
• Commonly used levels of significance in practice are 5% (0.05)
and 1% (0.01).
• If we adopt 5% level of significance, it implies that in 5 samples
out of 100, we are likely to reject a correct H0. In another words,
this implies that we are 95% confident that our decision to
reject H0 is correct.
• Level of significance is always fixed in advance before collecting
the sample information.
Type of Testing
• Large Sample Test
• Z Test
• T Test
• Chi Square Test
• Right tailed
• Left tailed
• Two tailed
