SOCI 328 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Null Hypothesis, Test Statistic
Document Summary
The alternative hypothesis (ha) is a hypothesis that directly contradicts the null hypothesis. States that parameter falls in some alternative set of values to that specified by null hypothesis. Significance test analyzes strength of evidence against null hypothesis. This is the direct "proof contradiction" approach - assume null hypothesis is true, then look for evidence against it. The p- value is the probability, when ho is true of producing a test statistic value that is at least as contradictory to ho as the value actually observed. Specifically, we consider the set of possible test statistic values that provide at least as much evidence against the null hypothesis as the observed tests statistic . The a- level (alpha- level) is a number such that one rejects ho if the p- value is less than it. A is called the significance level of the test. We are looking for a good reason to reject ho.
