BIOSTATISTICS II

Testing of Hypothesis

Dr. HAWAWU Husseini

 Introduction
The primary objective of statistical analysis is to use
data from a sample to make inferences about the
population from which the sample was drawn.

The mean and

µ, σ variance of
students in the
entire country?

Sample

Mean and variance

x,S of GATE scores of
all students of IIT-
KGP
 Hypothesis Testing
What is Hypothesis?

• “A hypothesis is an educated prediction that can be tested” (study.com).

• “A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon” (Wikipedia).

• “A hypothesis is used to define the relationship between two variables”

(Oxford dictionary).

• “A supposition or proposed explanation made on the basis of limited

evidence as a starting point for further investigation” (Walpole).
 Testing of Hypothesis
Testing of Hypothesis:
In hypothesis testing, we decide whether to accept or reject
a particular value of a set, of particular values of a parameter or
those of several parameters. It is seen that, although the exact value
of a parameter may be unknown, there is often same idea about the
true value. The data collected from samples helps us in rejecting or
accepting our hypothesis. In other words, in dealing with problems
of hypothesis testing, we try to arrive at a right decision about a pre-
stated hypothesis.

Definition:
A test of a statistical hypothesis is a two action decision
problem after the experimental sample values have been obtained,
the two–actions being the acceptance or rejection of the
hypothesis.
 Null Hypothesis: H0

 The null hypothesis (denoted by H0) is a statement that the value

of a population parameter (such as proportion, mean, or standard

deviation) is equal to some claimed value.

 We test the null hypothesis directly.

 Either reject H0 or fail to reject H0.

 The symbolic form of the alternative hypothesis must use one of

these symbols: =, ≤ and ≥

 Alternative Hypothesis: H1
 The alternative hypothesis (denoted by H1 or

Ha or HA) is the statement that the parameter

has a value that somehow differs from the
Null Hypothesis.

 The symbolic form of the alternative

hypothesis must use one of these symbols: ,
<, >.
Types of Alternative Hypothesis
We have two kinds of alternative hypothesis:-
(a) One sided alternative hypothesis
(b) Two sided alternative hypothesis

The test related to (a) is called as ‘one – tailed’

test and those related to (b) are called as ‘two
tailed’ tests.
 Ho : µ = µ0

Then

H1 : µ < µ0 or H1 : µ > µ0

One sided alternative hypothesis

H 1 : µ ≠ µ0

Two sided alternative hypothesis

 Note about Forming Your
Own Claims (Hypotheses)

If you are conducting a study and want to

use a hypothesis test to support your
claim, the claim must be worded so that it
becomes the alternative hypothesis.
 Type I Error

 A Type I error is the mistake of

rejecting the null hypothesis when it
is true.

 The symbol  (alpha) is used to

represent the probability of a type I
error.
 Type II Error

 A Type II error is the mistake of failing to

reject the null hypothesis when it is false.

 The symbol  (beta) is used to represent

the probability of a type II error.
There may be four possible situations that arise
in any test procedure which have been
summaries are given below:

Actual Truth of H0

Decision
H0 is true H0 is false

Accept H0 Correct Decision Type II Error

Reject H0 Type I Error Correct Decision

 Controlling Type I &
Type II Errors

 For any fixed , an increase in the sample

size n will cause a decrease in 

 For any fixed sample size n, a decrease in

 will cause an increase in . Conversely,
an increase in  will cause a decrease in .

 To decrease both  and , increase the

sample size.
 Test Statistic

The test statistic is a value used in making a decision

about the null hypothesis, and is found by converting
the sample statistic to a score with the assumption
that the null hypothesis is true.
The statistic that is compared with the parameter in
the null hypothesis is called the test statistic.
x  0
t cal  ~ t ( n 1) df
s2 / n
Test statistic for mean
 Critical Region
The critical region (or rejection region) is the set of all values of the
test statistic that cause us to reject the null hypothesis.
Acceptance region
Accept H0 ,if the sample
mean falls in this region

95 % of area

Acceptance and
rejection regions 0.025 of area 0.025 of area
in case of a two-
µH
tailed test with 5% 0

significance level. Rejection region

Reject H0 ,if the sample mean falls
in either of these regions
 Significance Level

The significance level (denoted by ) is the

probability that the test statistic will fall in the
critical region when the null hypothesis is
actually true. Common choices for  are 0.05,
0.01, and 0.10.
 Critical Value
A critical value is any value that separates the
critical region (where we reject the null
hypothesis) from the values of the test
statistic that do not lead to rejection of the null
hypothesis. The critical values depend on the
nature of the null hypothesis, the sampling
distribution that applies, and the significance
level .
 Two-tailed, Right-tailed,
Left-tailed Tests

The tails in a distribution are the extreme

regions bounded by critical values.
 Two-tailed Test

H 0: =  is divided equally between the

two tails of the critical region

H 1: 
Means less than or greater than
Right-tailed Test

H 0: =
H 1: >
Points Right
 Left-tailed Test

H 0: =
H 1: <
Points Left
 P-Value

The P-value (or p-value or probability value)

is the probability of getting a value of the test
statistic that is at least as extreme as the one
representing the sample data, assuming that
the null hypothesis is true. The null
hypothesis is rejected if the P-value is very
small, such as 0.05 or less.
 Two-tailed Test
If the alternative hypothesis contains the not-equal-to symbol
(), the hypothesis test is a two-tailed test. In a two-tailed test,
1
each tail has an area of P. 2

H0: μ = k
Ha: μ  k
P is twice the
P is twice the area to the right
area to the left of of the positive
the negative test test statistic.
statistic.

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
Test Test
statistic statistic
 Right-tailed Test

If the alternative hypothesis contains the greater-than

symbol (>), the hypothesis test is a right-tailed test.

H0: μ = k
P is the area to
Ha: μ > k the right of the test
statistic.

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
Test
statistic
 Left-tailed Test
If the alternative hypothesis contains the less-than
inequality symbol (<), the hypothesis test is a left-tailed
test.

H0: μ = k

P is the area to
Ha: μ < k
the left of the test
statistic.

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
Test
statistic
 Making a Decision

We always test the null hypothesis.

The initial conclusion will always be
one of the following:
1. Reject the null hypothesis.
2. Fail to reject the null hypothesis.
 Decision Criterion

Traditional method

Reject H0 if the test statistic falls

within the critical region.

Fail to reject H0 if the test statistic

does not fall within the critical
region.
 Decision Criterion

P-value method

Reject H0 if the P-value   (where 

is the significance level, such as
0.05).

Accept H0 if the P-value > .

 Interpreting a Decision
Example:
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.”
Review 6 Steps for Significance Testing

1. State hypotheses, Null and Alternative.

2. Set alpha.
3. Calculate the test statistic (sample
value).
4. Find the critical value of the statistic.
5. State the decision rule.
6. State the conclusion.
 Yo u
h a n k
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