What is Hypothesis Testing?

Hypothesis testing in statistics refers to analyzing an assumption about a

population parameter. It is used to make an educated guess about an
assumption using statistics. With the use of sample data, hypothesis testing
makes an assumption about how true the assumption is for the entire
population from where the sample is being taken.
Any hypothetical statement we make may or may not be valid, and it is then
our responsibility to provide evidence for its possibility. To approach any
hypothesis, we follow these four simple steps that test its validity.
1. First, we formulate two hypothetical statements such that only one of
them is true. By doing so, we can check the validity of our own
hypothesis.
2. The next step is to formulate the statistical analysis to be followed
based upon the data points.
3. Then we analyze the given data using our methodology.
4. The final step is to analyze the result and judge whether the null
hypothesis will be rejected or is true.

Let’s look at several hypothesis testing examples:

• It is observed that the average recovery time for a knee-surgery patient
is 8 weeks. A physician believes that after successful knee surgery if
the patient goes for physical therapy twice a week rather than thrice a
week, the recovery period will be longer. Conduct hypothesis for this
statement.
• David is a ten-year-old who finishes a 25-yard freestyle in the
meantime of 16.43 seconds. David’s father bought goggles for his son,
believing that it would help him to reduce his time. He then recorded
a total of fifteen 25-yard freestyle for David, and the average time
came out to be 16 seconds. Conduct a hypothesis.
• A tire company claims their A-segment of tires have a running life of
50,000 miles before they need to be replaced, and previous studies
show a standard deviation of 8,000 miles. After surveying a total of
 28 tires, the mean run time came to be 46,500 miles with a standard
deviation of 9800 miles. Is the claim made by the tire company
consistent with the given data? Conduct hypothesis testing.
All of the hypothesis testing examples are from real-life situations, which
leads us to believe that hypothesis testing is a very practical topic indeed. It
is an integral part of a researcher's study and is used in every research
methodology in one way or another.

Inferential statistics majorly deals with hypothesis testing. The research

hypothesis states there is a relationship between the independent variable
and dependent variable. Whereas the null hypothesis rejects this claim of
any relationship between the two, our job as researchers or students is to
check whether there is any relation between the two.

Hypothesis Testing in Research Methodology

Now that we are clear about what hypothesis testing is? Let's look at the use
of hypothesis testing in research methodology. Hypothesis testing is at the
centre of research projects.

What is Hypothesis Testing and Why is it Important in Research

Methodology?
Often after formulating research statements, the validity of those statements
need to be verified. Hypothesis testing offers a statistical approach to the
researcher about the theoretical assumptions he/she made. It can be
understood as quantitative results for a qualitative problem.

Hypothesis testing provides various techniques to test the hypothesis

statement depending upon the variable and the data points. It finds its use in
almost every field of research while answering statements such as whether
this new medicine will work, a new testing method is appropriate, or if the
outcomes of a random experiment are probable or not.
Procedure of Hypothesis Testing
To find the validity of any statement, we have to strictly follow the stepwise
procedure of hypothesis testing. After stating the initial hypothesis, we have
to re-write them in the form of a null and alternate hypothesis. The alternate
hypothesis predicts a relationship between the variables, whereas the null
hypothesis predicts no relationship between the variables.
After writing them as H0(null hypothesis) and Ha(Alternate hypothesis),
only one of the statements can be true. For example, taking the hypothesis
that, on average, men are taller than women, we write the statements as:
• H0: On average, men are not taller than women.
• Ha: On average, men are taller than women.
Our next aim is to collect sample data, what we call sampling, in a way so
that we can test our hypothesis. Your data should come from the concerned
population for which you want to make a hypothesis.

What is the p value in hypothesis testing? P-value gives us information

about the probability of occurrence of results as extreme as observed results.

You will obtain your p-value after choosing the hypothesis testing method,
which will be the guiding factor in rejecting the hypothesis. Usually, the p-
value cutoff for rejecting the null hypothesis is 0.05. So anything below that,
you will reject the null hypothesis.

A low p-value means that the between-group variance is large enough that
there is almost no overlapping, and it is unlikely that these came about by
chance. A high p-value suggests there is a high within-group variance and
low between-group variance, and any difference in the measure is due to
chance only.
What is statistical hypothesis testing?
When forming conclusions through research, two sorts of errors are
common: A hypothesis must be set and defined in statistics during a
statistical survey or research. A statistical hypothesis is what it is called. It
is, in fact, a population parameter assumption. However, it is unmistakable
that this idea is always proven correct. Hypothesis testing refers to the
predetermined formal procedures used by statisticians to determine whether
hypotheses should be accepted or rejected. The process of selecting
hypotheses for a given probability distribution based on observable data is
known as hypothesis testing. Hypothesis testing is a fundamental and crucial
issue in statistics.

Why do I Need to Test it? Why not just prove an alternate one?
The quick answer is that you must as a scientist; it is part of the scientific
process. Science employs a variety of methods to test or reject theories,
ensuring that any new hypothesis is free of errors. One protection to ensure
your research is not incorrect is to include both a null and an alternate
hypothesis. The scientific community considers not incorporating the null
hypothesis in your research to be poor practice. You are almost certainly
setting yourself up for failure if you set out to prove another theory without
first examining it. At the very least, your experiment will not be considered
seriously.

Types of Hypothesis Testing

There are several types of hypothesis testing, and they are used based on the
data provided. Depending on the sample size and the data given, we choose
among different hypothesis testing methodologies. Here starts the use of
hypothesis testing tools in research methodology.
• Normality- This type of testing is used for normal distribution in a
population sample. If the data points are grouped around the mean,
the probability of them being above or below the mean is equally
likely. Its shape resembles a bell curve that is equally distributed on
either side of the mean.
• T-test- This test is used when the sample size in a normally distributed
population is comparatively small, and the standard deviation is
 unknown. Usually, if the sample size drops below 30, we use a T-test
to find the confidence intervals of the population.
• Chi-Square Test- The Chi-Square test is used to test the population
variance against the known or assumed value of the population
variance. It is also a better choice to test the goodness of fit of a
distribution of data. The two most common Chi-Square tests are the
Chi-Square test of independence and the chi-square test of variance.
• ANOVA- Analysis of Variance or ANOVA compares the data sets of
two different populations or samples. It is similar in its use to the t-
test or the Z-test, but it allows us to compare more than two sample
means. ANOVA allows us to test the significance between an
independent variable and a dependent variable, namely X and Y,
respectively.
• Z-test- It is a statistical measure to test that the means of two
population samples are different when their variance is known. For a
Z-test, the population is assumed to be normally distributed. A z-test
is better suited in the case of large sample sizes greater than 30. This
is due to the central limit theorem that as the sample size increases,
the samples are considered to be distributed normally.

Type I and Type II errors are subjected to the result of the null
hypothesis. In case of type I or type-1 error, the null hypothesis is rejected
though it is true whereas type II or type-2 error, the null hypothesis is not
rejected even when the alternative hypothesis is true. Both the error type-i
and type-ii are also known as “false negative”. A lot of statistical theory
rotates around the reduction of one or both of these errors, still, the total
elimination of both is explained as a statistical impossibility.

Type I Error
A type I error appears when the null hypothesis (H0) of an experiment is
true, but still, it is rejected. It is stating something which is not present or a
false hit. A type I error is often called a false positive (an event that shows
that a given condition is present when it is absent). In words of community
tales, a person may see the bear when there is none (raising a false alarm)
where the null hypothesis (H0) contains the statement: “There is no bear”.
 The type I error significance level or rate level is the probability of
refusing the null hypothesis given that it is true. It is represented by Greek
letter α (alpha) and is also known as alpha level. Usually, the significance
level or the probability of type i error is set to 0.05 (5%), assuming that it
is satisfactory to have a 5% probability of inaccurately rejecting the null
hypothesis.

Type II Error
A type II error appears when the null hypothesis is false but mistakenly
fails to be refused. It is losing to state what is present and a miss. A type II
error is also known as false negative (where a real hit was rejected by the
test and is observed as a miss), in an experiment checking for a condition
with a final outcome of true or false.
A type II error is assigned when a true alternative hypothesis is not
acknowledged. In other words, an examiner may miss discovering the bear
when in fact a bear is present (hence fails in raising the alarm). Again, H0,
the null hypothesis, consists of the statement that, “There is no bear”,
wherein, if a wolf is indeed present, is a type II error on the part of the
investigator. Here, the bear either exists or does not exist within given
circumstances, the question arises here is if it is correctly identified or not,
either missing detecting it when it is present, or identifying it when it is not
present.
The rate level of the type II error is represented by the Greek letter β (beta)
and linked to the power of a test (which equals 1−β).

Table of Type I and Type II Error

The relationship between truth or false of the null hypothesis and

Error Types When H0 is True When H0 is False

Don’t Reject Correct Decision (True negative) Type II Error (False negative)
Probability = β
Probability = 1 – α

Reject Type II Error (False Positive) Correct Decision (True Positive)

Probability = α Probability = 1 – β
outcomes or result of the test is given in the tabular form:
 Type I and Type II Errors Example
Check out some real-life examples to understand the type-i and type-ii
error in the null hypothesis.
Example 1: Let us consider a null hypothesis – A man is not guilty of a
crime.
Then in this case:

Type I error (False Positive) Type II error (False Negative)

He is condemned to crime, though He is condemned not guilty when the court

he is not guilty or committed the actually does commit the crime by letting the
crime. guilty one go free.

Example 2: Null hypothesis- A patient’s signs after treatment A, are the

same from a placebo.

Type I error (False Positive) Type II error (False Negative)

Treatment A is more efficient Treatment A is more powerful than placebo even

than the placebo though it truly is more efficient.