hypothesis testing
Evaluating proposed explanations
Hypothesis testing is a statistical method for deciding whether observed data support a particular claim.
You start with a null hypothesis (typically that no effect exists), collect data, then calculate how likely you'd see such results if the null hypothesis were true.
If unlikely enough, you reject the null hypothesis in favor of an alternative.
The method is fundamental to scientific research: Hypothesis testing revealed a significant difference between the treatment and control groups.
- p-valueProbability under null hypothesis
- varianceSpread around the mean
- probabilityQuantified chance of occurrence
- falsifiabilitySusceptibility to disproof
- inferenceConclusion reached through reasoning
reject · type II error · experimental design · sample size · standard deviation · scientific method · correlation · t-test · power · replication · beta · population · confidence interval · margin of error · normal · threshold · error · statistic
- scientific researchresearch, experiment, study, lab experiments, field studies
- problem-solvingproblem solving, puzzles, riddles, logic, solutions
- researchstudy, research papers, researching, archive, peer review
- science educationscience fair, science class, science teachers, science lab, science projects
- experimentsexperiment, experiments, test, tests, trials
- reasoningreasoning, reason, logic, inference, deductive
hypothesis testingblind faith
Trust without requiring proof
dogma · guesswork · superstition · intuition · assumption
hypothesis testinginductive reasoning
Inferring patterns from cases
data mining · pattern recognition · abductive reasoning · fishing expedition · brainstorming
hypothesis testingproof
Demonstration of truth
mathematical proof · certainty · verification · conclusive evidence · axiom
tested, testing, tester, hypothesis, retest, testable, hypothetical, hypothesize, testers