Section 10.2: Section 10.2: Tests of SignificanceTests of Significance

Hypothesis TestingHypothesis Testing Null and Alternative

Hypothesis P-value Statistically Significant

Goal of Tests of Significance

To access the evidence provided by data about some

claim concerning a population.

Not sure if you believe me, you hand me a ball and ask me to serve 20 balls.

I make 8 out of those 20 serves. “Aha,” you say. “Someone who

makes 80% of their serves would hardly ever only make 8 out of 20 shots, so I don’t believe your claim!”

Suppose I claim to consistently make 80% of my volleyball serves.

Your reasoning is based on what would happen if my claim were true and we repeated the sample of 20 serves many times.

The probability of making 8/20 serves if I really make 80% is 0.0001.

This probability is so small that you are convinced my statement can’t be true.

Basic Idea Behind Significance Tests

An outcome that would rarely happen if a claim were true is good evidence that the claim

is not true.

Situation

Read and summarize the situation given in:

EXAMPLE 10.9, pg 560.

Situation SummaryMatched Pairs Experiment Design.

Data: “Sweetness Before” score – “Sweetness after” score

2.0 0.4 0.7 -0.4 2.2 -1.3 1.2 1.1 2.3

Is this good evidence that the cola lost sweetness in storage?

Situation Continued

= 1.02 What is the meaning of:

• a positive mean? • a negative mean? • a mean equal to 0?

Test of Significance

We don’t know how conclusive or significant our results are. We must perform a significant test that asks the following questions: Does our reflect a real

sweetness loss? Could we easily get our by

chance?

Step 1:Identify the Parameter

We are trying to identify the mean µ loss in sweetness for

the population.

Note: we are always trying to draw conclusions about a

parameter of a population, so we must always be stating tests in

terms of the parameter.

Step 2: State The Null Hypothesis

The Null Hypothesis (H0) says that there is no effect or change in the population. If H0 is true, then the

sample result is just chance at work.

In our situation, the null hypothesis would be that the cola (population) does not lose sweetness. Written:

H0: µ = 0

Step 3: State the Alternative Hypothesis

The effect we suspect is true, the alternative to “no effect” or “no change” is described by the Alternative Hypothesis (Ha)

In our situation, the alternative hypothesis is that the cola does lose sweetness. Written:

Ha: µ > 0

Significant Test Reasoning

If H0 is true, how surprising is our outcome of ? If the

outcome is surprisingly large, then that is evidence

against H0 and for Ha

Sampling Distribution of if H0 is true.

Central Limit Theorem would dictate that the sampling distribution would be

In our situation, the sampling distribution of x-bar would be N(0, 0.316). Assuming

we know the population = 1

nN ,

Calculate P-Value

If H0 is true, calculate the probability that one would get an outcome of

1.02.

This probability is called the p-value.

Standardize 1.02 if N(0, .316), then use Table A.

P-Value Definition

The probability, assuming H0 is true, that the test statistic

would take a value as extreme or more extreme than that actually observed is called the p-value.

The smaller the p-value, the stronger the evidence against H0.

REMEMBER ! ! ! ! ! !

Hypothesis tests (or Significance Tests) find p-values.

P-values describe how probable the NULL HYPOTHESIS is based on the sample statistic.

WE ARE ALWAYS TESTING WHETHER THE NULL HYPOTHESIS IS PROBABLE OR NOT!

Check for Understanding

A hypothesis test was calculated. Answer whether there is significant evidence to reject the H0 and accept the the Ha.

P-value = .45 P-value = .0001 P-value = .03 P-value = .21 P-value = .99 P-value = 4.2341E-12 P-value = .10 P-value = .11

Writing Your ConclusionThere is a (p-value) probability that our sample statistic of (sample mean or proportion) would occur if the Null Hypothesis were true and the population parameter was (pop. Mean or prop).

This suggests that Null hypothesis is (likely, somewhat likely, not likely). If not likely, then describe the alternative hyp. As more likely.

Statistically Significant

To describe how significant the evidence against the H0 is, we establish a significance level ().

If the p-value is as small or smaller than the established , we say the evidence to reject the H0 is statistically significant at the -level.

Statistical Significance

The smaller the significance level, the more evidence against the H0

(or the more likely the Ha).

Significance does not mean “important”; it means that the

outcome is not likely to occur just by chance.

Check for UnderstandingIf the following p-values were calculated, state whether there is statistically significant evidence against the H0 at the 0.10, 0.05, or 0.01 level.

P-value = .45 P-value = .0001 P-value = .03 P-value = .21 P-value = .99 P-value = 4.2341E-12 P-value = .10 P-value = .11

Summary We stated a null hypothesis (no loss) We calculated a test statistic. We stated alternative hypothesis. We found the probability of getting the

test statistic if H0 was true. (p-value) Since p-value was very low, it was

statistically significant evidence that the null hypothesis was false and the alternative true.

Assignment

Exercises: 10.27 – 31, 33 – 37

Read pp. 559-569 for reference.