What is hypothesis in statistics?
In statistics, a hypothesis is a statement or an assumption about a population parameter or the relationship between two or more variables. It is a tentative explanation for an observed phenomenon that is testable through a statistical analysis.
Hypotheses are typically formulated as two opposing statements: the null hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis. The null hypothesis is a statement that assumes no effect or no relationship between the variables under consideration. The alternative hypothesis is the opposite of the null hypothesis and represents the hypothesis of interest or the hypothesis that the researcher wants to prove.
For example, suppose a researcher is interested in studying the effect of a new drug on blood pressure. The null hypothesis in this case would be that the drug has no effect on blood pressure, while the alternative hypothesis would be that the drug does have an effect on blood pressure.
Once the hypotheses are formulated, statistical tests are used to determine the likelihood of the null hypothesis being true. If the statistical evidence is strong enough, the null hypothesis may be rejected in favor of the alternative hypothesis, which provides support for the researcher's initial hypothesis.
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