MODULE 5: TEST OF HYPOTHESIS

Hypothesis testing is a procedure of making decision.

One of the ultimate goals of every nation is to produce professionals who will contribute to
scientific knowledge through research. In investigation, hypothesis testing is a vital procedure. It
is making a decision whether to accept or reject a statement or the assumption about some
parameter in any research problem. From the result of the correct decision making, conclusions
are drawn in which facts are generated, and thus can become a contribution to a particular body
of knowledge in the fields of education, business, medicine, commerce, economics, and many
others.

MODULE 5.1: TEST OF HYPOTHESIS

One important thing a researcher should do is to make assumptions about the population. These
assumptions which may or may not be true are called statistical hypotheses.

Statistical Hypotheses

1. The null hypothesis, Ho, is a statement saying that there is no significant difference
between population parameter and the value that is being claimed. It is the hypothesis to
be tested.
2. The alternative hypothesis, Ha, is a statement saying there is significant difference
between population parameter and the value that is being claimed. This is a statement that
will be true once the null hypothesis is rejected.

Example 1

The Head of the P.E. Department of a certain high school claims that the mean height of
Grade 11 students is 163 cm. the mean height of 45 randomly selected Grade 11 students is 161
cm. using 0.01 significance level, can it be concluded that the mean height of Grade 11 students
is different from 163 cm as claimed by the Head of the PE Department?
a. Ho: µ= 163
b. Ha: µ≠ 163

Example 2

The Alpura Company produces an average of 4% defective bulbs each day. Recently, some
of the machines were upgraded. Out of the 400 bulbs randomly selected only 14 bulbs were
found defective. Does this suggest that there is a decrease in the number of defective bulbs
produced each day? Use 0.05 significance level.
a. Ho: p= 0.04
b. Ha: p < 0.04

*a rejection of the null hypothesis results in the acceptance of the alternative hypothesis.
Rejection Region, Critical Value, and Level of Significance

The researcher should follow some steps and rules to help him/her decide whether or not
to reject the null hypothesis.

The researcher needs to convert the sample mean to a value called test statistic. This
value would help him/her make a decision and draw a conclusion.

Separating the two regions is a point called the critical value which is derived from the
level of significance.

The level of significance, alpha, corresponds to the rejection region and the difference of
one and the alpha corresponds to the area of the curve occupied by the non-rejection region.

The most commonly used values for alpha are 0.01, 0.05, and 0.10.

Example: If the level of significance is 5% or 0.05, then there is a 5% chance or 5 chances in 100
that the null hypothesis would be rejected when it should be accepted. That is whenever the null
hypothesis is true, the researcher is 95% confident that she/he would make the correct decision.

Types of Errors

1. Type I error
It is committed when the researcher rejects a null hypothesis when in fact it is true. The
probability of committing Type I error is also called the level of significance.

For a 90% confidence level, the level of significance or the value of alpha is 0.1. This
means that there is 10% probability that the researcher will reject a true null hypothesis.
But if the researcher rejects null hypothesis that is false, then he has reached a correct
decision. Alpha α is used to represent the probability of a Type I error.

2. Type II error
It is committed when the researcher fails to reject a null hypothesis that is false. But if the
researcher fails to reject a true hypothesis, then, there s no error committed. Beta β is
used to represent the probability of a Type II error.
 True State of Nature
Decision
The null hypothesis is true The null hypothesis is false
Reject the null hypothesis Ho Type I error Correct decision
Accept the null hypothesis Ho Correct decision Type II error

One-Tailed and Two-Tailed Tests

1. One-tailed test
- The rejection region is on one side of the distribution. It is either on the left or on the
right tail of the curve depending on how the alternative hypothesis is stated.
- If the hypothesis contains the greater than symbol (>), then the rejection region is on
the right tail of the curve.
- If the hypothesis contains the less than symbol (<), then the rejection region is on the
left tail of the curve.
- A one-tailed test is directional.
- The total area of alpha α which corresponds to the rejection region is placed on one
tail only.

2. Two-tailed test
- The rejection region on both sides of the curve.
- If the alternative hypothesis contains the inequality (≠) symbol, then the test is two-
tailed. A two-tailed test is directional.
- Alpha which corresponds to the rejection region is divided equally between the two
tails.

Example 1

What is the critical value when the test is two-tailed, the level of significance is 0.05, the
variance is known, and n=35?
Solution:
 If the test is two-tailed, divide the level of significance by 2 and subtract the quotient
from 0.5.
 Since the variance is known and n > 30, use the Areas under the Normal Curve Table
 α/2 = 0.05/2 = 0.025
 0.5 – 0.025 = 0.475 or 0.4750 ( z=1.96, from the table NCT)
 At 5% level of significance, the critical value is + 1.96.

Example 2
What is the critical value when that the test is two-tailed, the level of significance is 0.05,
the variance is unknown, and n= 20?

Solution:
 If the variance is unknown and n < 30, use the Table of t-Critical Values
 There is a need to find the degrees of freedom: df = 20-1 = 19
 α/2 = 0.05/2 = 0.025 (2-tailed)
 the Critical value, 2.093
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Problem Set: Test of Hypothesis

A. Express the null hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis in notation form the following
scenarios.

1. The principal of the school claims that the mean age of the teachers is 45 years. the mean
age of the randomly selected 35 teachers is 42 years, which is not equal to what is
claimed by the principal
2. The mathematics teacher claims that the mean IQ of Statistics students is 110. The mean
IQ of the 32 randomly selected Statistics students is 112 which is more than what the
mathematics teacher claims.
3. The mean annual income of workers who are college graduates is greater than P 100, 000
a year.

B. Find the critical value for the test of significance in each of the given information.

4. One-tailed test, σ2 is known, α=0.05, n=34

5. Two-tailed test, σ2 is known, α=0.01, n=50
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Module 5.2: HYPOTHESIS TESTING ABOUT A POPULATION MEAN WHEN THE
VARIANCE IS KNOWN