Hypothesis Testing
Hypothesis testing is a method of
inferential statistics. An experimenter starts with a hypothesis
about a
population parameter called the
null hypothesis. Data are then collected
and the viability of the null hypothesis is determined in light of
the data. If the data are very different from what would be expected
under the assumption that the null hypothesis is true, then the null
hypothesis is rejected. If the data are not greatly at variance with
what would be expected under the assumption that the null hypothesis
is true, then the null hypothesis is not rejected. Failure to reject
the null hypothesis is not the same thing as
accepting the null hypothesis.
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