Hypothesis Testing

with One Sample

 Introduction to
Hypothesis Testing
 Hypothesis Tests
A hypothesis test is a process that uses sample statistics to
test a claim about the value of a population parameter.
A hospital administrator may hypothesize that the
average length of stay of patients admitted to the
hospital is 5 days
A public health nurse may hypothesize that a
particular educational program will result in
improved communication between nurse and patient

By means of hypothesis testing one determines whether or

not such statements are compatible with the available
data.

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 Types of Hypotheses
The research hypothesis is the conjecture or supposition that
motivates the research.
A public health nurse, for example, may have noted
that certain clients responded more readily to a
particular type of health education program
A physician may recall numerous instances in which
certain combinations of therapeutic measures were
more effective than any one of them alone

Research projects often result from the desire of such health

practitioners to determine whether or not their theories or
suspicions can be supported when subjected to the rigors of
scientific investigation.
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 Types of Hypotheses
Research hypotheses lead directly to statistical hypotheses.

Statistical hypotheses are hypotheses that are stated in such

a way that they may be evaluated by appropriate statistical
techniques.

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 Stating a Hypothesis
“H subzero” or “H naught”
A null hypothesis H0 is a statistical hypothesis that
contains a statement of equality such as , =, or .
“H sub-a”

A alternative hypothesis Ha is the complement of the null

hypothesis. It is a statement that must be true if H0 is false
and contains a statement of inequality such as >, , or <.

To write the null and alternative hypotheses, translate the

claim made about the population parameter from a verbal
statement to a mathematical statement.

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 Stating a Hypothesis
Example:
Write the claim as a mathematical sentence. State the null
and alternative hypotheses and identify which represents
the claim.
A medical research team claims that the mean recovery time
for patients after the new treatment is less than 96 hours.
 > 96
H0:   96 Condition of
equality
Ha:  < 96 (Claim)
Complement of the
null hypothesis
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 Types of Errors
No matter which hypothesis represents the claim, always
begin the hypothesis test assuming that the null
hypothesis is true.

At the end of the test, one of two decisions will be made:

1. reject the null hypothesis, or
2. fail to reject the null hypothesis.
A type I error occurs if the null hypothesis is rejected
when it is true.
A type II error occurs if the null hypothesis is not rejected
when it is false.

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 Types of Errors

Actual Truth of H0
Decision H0 is true H0 is false

Do not reject H0 Correct Decision Type II Error

Reject H0 Type I Error Correct Decision

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 Types of Errors
Example:
Statesville college claims that 94% of their graduates find
employment within six months of graduation. What will a
type I or type II error be?
H0: p = 0.94 (Claim)
Ha: p  0.94
A type I error is rejecting the null when it is true.
The population proportion is actually 0.94, but is rejected.
(We believe it is not 0.94.)
A type II error is failing to reject the null when it is false.
The population proportion is not 0.94, but is not rejected. (We
believe it is 0.94.)
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 Level of Significance
In a hypothesis test, the level of significance is your
maximum allowable probability of making a type I error.
It is denoted by , the lowercase Greek letter alpha.
Hypothesis tests
are based on .
The probability of making a type II error is denoted by ,
the lowercase Greek letter beta.
By setting the level of significance at a small value,
you are saying that you want the probability of
rejecting a true null hypothesis to be small.
Commonly used levels of significance:
 = 0.10  = 0.05  = 0.01
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 P-values
If the null hypothesis is true, a P-value (or probability
value) of a hypothesis test is the probability of obtaining a
sample statistic with a value as extreme or more extreme
than the one determined from the sample data.

The P-value of a hypothesis test depends on the nature of

the test.

There are three types of hypothesis tests – a left-, right-,

or two-tailed test. The type of test depends on the region
of the sampling distribution that favors a rejection of H0.
This region is indicated by the alternative hypothesis.

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 Left-tailed Test
1. If the alternative hypothesis contains the less-than
inequality symbol (<), the hypothesis test is a left-tailed
test.
H0: μ  k
Ha: μ < k

P is the area to
the left of the
test statistic.

z
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
Test
statistic
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 Right-tailed Test
2. If the alternative hypothesis contains the greater-than
symbol (>), the hypothesis test is a right-tailed test.

H0: μ  k
Ha: μ > k

P is the area to
the right of the
test statistic.

z
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
Test
statistic
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 Two-tailed Test
3. If the alternative hypothesis contains the not-equal-to
symbol (), the hypothesis test is a two-tailed test. In a
1
two-tailed test, each tail has an area of 2 P.
H0: μ = k
Ha: μ  k
P is twice the
P is twice the area to the right
area to the left of the positive
of the negative test statistic.
test statistic.

z
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
Test Test
statistic statistic
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 Identifying Types of Tests
Example:
For each claim, state H0 and Ha. Then determine whether the
hypothesis test is a left-tailed, right-tailed, or two-tailed test.
a.) A cigarette manufacturer claims that less than one-
eighth of the US adult population smokes cigarettes.
H0: p  0.125
Ha: p < 0.125 (Claim) Left-tailed test
b.) A local telephone company claims that the average
length of a phone call is 8 minutes.
H0: μ = 8 (Claim)
Ha : μ  8 Two-tailed test

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 Making a Decision
Decision Rule Based on P-value
To use a P-value to make a conclusion in a hypothesis test,
compare the P-value with .
1. If P  , then reject H0.
2. If P > , then fail to reject H0.

Claim
Decision Claim is H0 Claim is Ha
There is enough evidence to There is enough evidence to
Reject H0 reject the claim. support the claim.
There is not enough evidence There is not enough evidence
Do not reject H0 to reject the claim. to support the claim.

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 Interpreting a Decision
Example:
You perform a hypothesis test for the following claim. How
should you interpret your decision if you reject H0? If you
fail to reject H0?
H0: (Claim) A cigarette manufacturer claims that less
than one-eighth of the US adult population smokes
cigarettes.
If H0 is rejected, you should conclude “there is sufficient
evidence to indicate that the manufacturer’s claim is false.”
If you fail to reject H0, you should conclude “there is not
sufficient evidence to indicate that the manufacturer’s claim
is false.”

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 Steps for Hypothesis Testing
1. State the null and alternative hypotheses.
2. Determine level of significance, degrees of freedom, critical
value
3. Compute the test statistic

4. Decide whether to reject or not reject H0

5. Make a decision based on the original assumption

Continued.
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Hypothesis Testing
for the Mean
(Population σ
Unknown )
Critical Values in a t-Distribution
Finding Critical Values in a t-Distribution
1. Identify the level of significance .
2. Identify the degrees of freedom d.f. = n – 1.
3. Find the critical value(s) using Table 5 in Appendix B in
the row with n – 1 degrees of freedom. If the hypothesis
test is
a. left-tailed, use “One Tail,  ” column with a negative
sign,
b. right-tailed, use “One Tail,  ” column with a positive
sign,
c. two-tailed, use “Two Tails,  ” column with a
negative and a positive sign.

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 Finding Critical Values for t
Example:
Find the critical value t0 for a right-tailed test given  = 0.01
and n = 24.

The degrees of freedom are d.f. = n – 1 = 24 – 1 = 23.

To find the critical value, use Table 5 with d.f. = 23 and 0.01
in the “One Tail,  “ column. Because the test is a right-tail
test, the critical value is positive.
t0 = 2.500

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 Finding Critical Values for t
Example:
Find the critical values t0 and −t0 for a two-tailed test given
 = 0.10 and n = 12.

The degrees of freedom are d.f. = n – 1 = 12 – 1 = 11.

To find the critical value, use Table 5 with d.f. = 11 and 0.10
in the “Two Tail,  “ column. Because the test is a two-tail
test, one critical value is negative and one is positive.

−t0 = − 1.796 and t0 = 1.796

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 t-Test for a Mean μ ( Unknown)

The t-test for the mean is a statistical test for a population

mean. The t-test can be used when the population is
normal or nearly normal, and  is unknown.

The test statistic is the sample mean x and the standardized

test statistic is t.

t= x −μ
s n

The degrees of freedom are d.f. = n – 1 .

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 t-Test for a Mean μ ( Unknown)
Using the t-Test for a Mean μ
In Words In Symbols
1. State the claim mathematically State H0 and Ha.
and verbally. Identify the null
and alternative hypotheses.
2. Specify the level of significance. Identify .
3. Identify the degrees of freedom d.f. = n – 1.
and sketch the sampling
distribution.
4. Determine any critical values. Use Table 5 in
Appendix B.
5. Determine any rejection region(s).
Continued.
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t-Test for a Mean μ (n < 30,  Unknown)

Using the t-Test for a Mean μ

In Words In Symbols
6. Find the standardized test t =x −μ
statistic. s
n

7. Make a decision to reject or fail If t is in the rejection

to reject the null hypothesis. region, reject H0.
Otherwise, fail to
reject H0.
8. Interpret the decision in the
context of the original claim.

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 Testing μ Using Critical Values
A study was made of a sample of 25 records of patients seen at
a chronic disease hospital on an outpatient basis. The mean
number of outpatient visits per patient was 4.8, and the sample
standard deviation was 2. Can it be concluded from these data
that the population mean is greater than four visits per
patient? Let α = 0.05. What assumptions are necessary?

Step 1: State the hypotheses and identify the claim.

H0: μ < 4 Ha: μ > 4
Step 2: Find the critical value. Let α = 0.05 and the test is a
one-tailed test, the critical values are t = 1.711 with d.f. = 25
– 1 = 24.
Continued.
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 Testing μ Using Critical Values
Step 3: Compute the test value.
4.8 - 4
t= = 2.00
2
25

Step 4: Reject H0, since 2.00 falls in the rejection

region.

Step 5: We have enough evidence to support the

claim that the population mean is greater than four
visits per patient.

Continued.
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 Testing μ Using Critical Values
Example:
Nakamura et al. (A-1) studied subjects with medial
collateral ligament (MCL) and anterior cruciate ligament
(ACL) tears. Between February 1995 and December 1997,
17 consecutive patients with combined acute ACL and
grade III MCL injuries were treated by the same
physician at the research center. One of the variables of
interest was the length of time in days between the
occurrence of the injury and the first magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI). The data are shown in Table 7.2.1. We
wish to know if we can conclude that the mean number of
days between injury and initial MRI is not 15 days in a
population presumed to be represented by these sample
data. Continued.
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 Testing μ Using Critical Values

Step 1: State the hypotheses and identify the claim.

H0: μ = 15 H1: μ ≠ 15 (claim)
Step 2: Find the critical value. Let α = 0.05 and the test is a
two-tailed test, the critical values are t = –2.120 and +2.120
with d.f. = 17 – 1 = 16. Continued.
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 Testing μ Using Critical Values
Step 3: Compute the test value.
13.29-15
t= = −0.793
8.89
17

Step 4: Do not reject H0, since – 0.793 falls in the

nonrejection region.

Step 5: we do not have enough evidence to support

the claim that the mean number of days between
injury and initial MRI is not 15 days.

Continued.
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Try This Yourself
1. The following data are the oxygen uptakes (milliliters) during
incubation of a random sample of 15 cell suspensions:
14.0, 14.1, 14.5, 13.2, 11.2, 14.0, 14.1, 12.2,
11.1, 13.7, 13.2, 16.0, 12.8, 14.4, 12.9
Do these data provide sufficient evidence at the 0.05 level of
significance that the population mean is not 12 ml?

2. Can we conclude that the mean maximum voluntary ventilation

value for apparently healthy college seniors is not 110 liters per
minute? A sample of 20 yielded the following values: (Let α = 0.01.)
132, 33, 91, 108, 67, 169, 54, 203, 190, 133,
96, 30, 187, 21, 63, 166, 84, 110, 157, 138
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