HYPOTHESIS TESTING.

Hypotheses are assumptions, guesses, or statements or assertion which may or may

not be true concerning one or more population parameters.
Hypothesis can be subdivided into two; null hypothesis and alternative hypothesis.
The null hypothesis is denoted by H0 and the alternative is denoted by H1.
The null hypothesis is a statistical hypothesis which can be in some way be tested
or it is the hypothesis that we are suspicious about and wish to disprove. It is easily
testable hypothesis. It is also a statement that claims the existence of no
disagreement with the true conditions in the population of interest.
H0 and H1 are complementary meaning the acceptance of one leads to the rejection
of the other.
We state the null hypothesis in such a way as to specify the exact value
hypothesized for the population parameter of interest whereas the alternative
hypothesis allows for the possibility of one or several values.
Alternative hypothesis is just the hypothesis that is alternatively accepted if the
null hypothesis is rejected.
There exist two possible types of alternative hypothesis; one tailed /one sided
hypothesis and two tailed /two sided hypothesis.
A two- tailed is the alternative hypothesis that considers any changes in the
parameter whether it be an increase or decrease. That is, a test with not equal to
sign ( ) is called two tailed or two sided test because the rejection region is
divided into two equal parts, one to each tail or side of the distribution of the test
statistic.
For one tailed/ one sided, the rejection region for the alternative hypothesis
containing a greater than symbol > lies entirely to the right tail or side of the
distribution while the rejection region for the alternative hypothesis containing a
less than < symbol lies to the left tail or side of the distribution.

A test of a null hypothesis is simply a rule based on the results of a random sample
whereby we decide whether to accept or reject the particular null hypothesis (H0)
under question.
Test statistic depends on the nature of data and it helps in decision making since
the decision to reject or accept H0 depends on the magnitude of the test statistic.
Critical or Rejection region : is the set of all possible values of the test statistic
that lie to one side of the critical value. The values that lie to the other sides of the
critical value constitute the acceptance region. The critical value of a test statistic is
that value or values that lies on the boundary or boundaries of the critical region.
Significance level of a test: This is the probability that the test statistic lies in the
critical region under H0 and the most commonly used levels are 5% and 1%.
Decision rule for a statistical test is a model given values of a sample statistics (
not necessarily the test statistics) that will lead to either the acceptance or rejection
of the stated null hypothesis.
The decision rule tells us to reject H0 if the value of the test statistic lies in the
critical region. On the other hand, we accept H0 if the computed value of the test

statistic lies in the acceptance region.

Simple and Composite Hypothesis
In describing hypothesis, a simple hypothesis specify one value for the population
parameter for example = 0 or = 30 while a composite hypothesis specifies a
range of values for the population parameter, for example < 30, > 0 etc.
Errors in Hypothesis Testing.
We always run the risk of committing an error when we either reject or accept H0,
the error we commit when we reject H0 that should have been accepted is called a
TYPE I error and the error we commit when we accept H0 that should have been
rejected is called the TYPE II error.
We denote type I error by
that is probability(reject true H0) =
type II error by
that is probability(accept false H0) =
The probability of committing a type I error is called the level of significance of
the test or the significance level.
It should be noted that is the more serious error and deliberate effort is usually
made to keep it as small as possible.
The knowledge of helps us to determine the critical value and hence the rejection
and the acceptance regions for our test.
For a one-sided test, the total value of is used to determine the critical value since
in this case, the entire rejection lies to one side of the distribution of the test
statistic.
For a two-sided, we use /2 (half of ) to determine the required critical value
because in this case, the rejection region is divided into two equal parts, one to
each side of the distribution of the test statistic.

Accept H0

TABLE FOR ERRORS

H0 is true
Correct Decision (1 )

Reject H0

Incorrect decision Type I

error
(I ) gives the power of the test.

Standard Format of Hypothesis Testing.

Step 1: State the null and alternative hypothesis.
Step 2: Determine the test statistic.

H0 is false
Incorrect decision Type II
error
Correct Decision (1 )

Step 3: Determine the critical region using the cumulative distribution table from
the test statistic. This step involves specifying the values of the test statistic that
leads to the acceptance or rejection of H0.
Step 4: Compute the value of the test statistic based on the sample information.
Step 5: You make the statistical decision and interpretation.
Example 33.
It has been found from experience that the mean lifetime of a sample of 50 bulbs
produced by a company is computed to be 1570 hours with a standard deviation of
100 hours. If is the mean lifetime of all bulbs produced by the company. Test the
hypothesis: = 1000 hours against the alternative 1000 hours.
Solution.
H0 : = 1000 hours
H1 : 1000 hours
It is a two tailed test.

We REJECT H0 since it lies on the critical part.

Example 34.
A certain manufacturing company claimed that the breaking strength of cables they
produced have mean of 1000 and standard deviation of 10. The company also
claimed that the breaking strength can also be increased by a new technique, a
random sample of 30 cables is tested and the mean was found to be 1050.
To test the claim, does the data support the companys claim or not at 0.01 level of
significance.
Solution.
H0 : = 1000
H1 : > 1000
It is a one tailed test.

We reject the null hypothesis and conclude that the data does not support the
companys claim.
Example 35.
In the past, the tensile strength of the polythene bag produced by a businessman
was 4500kg. To determine whether the machine producing these polythene bags is
in proper working condition, a sample of 17 polythene bags are measured. The
sample mean was 4482kg and the standard deviation was 115kg.
Is the machine in proper working order at 0.05 level of significance?
Solution.
H0 : = 4500 (machine is in proper working order)
H1 : 4500 (machine is not in proper working order)
It is a two tailed test.

We accept the null hypothesis; the machine is in proper working order.

Example 36.
Specifications given by Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) That industrial
catalysts must contain at least 40.5% Tungsten. A sample of 12 brands of catalysts
from different companies showed a mean Tungsten content of 41.2% and standard
deviation of 0.95%. Can we conclude at 0.05 significance that the catalysts meet
the required specifications?
Solution.
H0 : = 40.5%
H1 : 40.5%
It is a two tailed test.

We reject the null hypothesis and conclude that the catalysts do not meet the
stipulated specifications.
Example 37.
A company manufactures fluorescent tubes which have life span that is normally
distributed with a mean of 700 hours and a standard deviation of 50 hours. A
random sample of 100 tubes showed an average life span of 720 hours.
Does this suggest at the 0.01 level of significance that the average life span of the
fluorescent tubes manufactured by the company has increased?
Solution.
H0 : = 700
H1 : > 700
It is a one tailed test.

We reject the null hypothesis and conclude that the mean life span of the
fluorescent tube manufactured by the company has increased.
Example 38.
It has been found from experience that the mean breaking strength of a particular
brand of thread is 9.72kg with a standard deviation of 1.4kg. Recently a sample of
36 pieces of the thread showed a mean breaking strength of 8.93kg. Can one
conclude at a significant level of 0.05 that the thread has become inferior?
Solution.
H0 : = 9.72 kg
H1 : < 9.72 kg
It is a one tailed test.

We accept the null hypothesis and conclude that the brand has not become inferior.