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3.1HypothesisTesting(Criticalvalueapproach)|Statistics

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3.1HypothesisTesting(Criticalvalueapproach)
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Criticalvalueapproach
Thecriticalvalueapproachinvolvesdetermining"likely"or"unlikely"bydeterminingwhetherornot
theobservedteststatisticismoreextremethanwouldbeexpectedifthenullhypothesisweretrue.That
is,itentailscomparingtheobservedteststatistictosomecutoffvalue,calledthe"criticalvalue."Ifthe
teststatisticismoreextremethanthecriticalvalue,thenthenullhypothesisisrejectedinfavorofthe
alternativehypothesis.Iftheteststatisticisnotasextremeasthecriticalvalue,thenthenullhypothesis
isnotrejected.
Specifically,thefourstepsinvolvedinusingthecriticalvalueapproachtoconductinganyhypothesis
testare:
1.Specifythenullandalternativehypotheses.
2.Usingthesampledataandassumingthenullhypothesisistrue,calculatethevalueofthetest
statistic.Toconductthehypothesistestforthepopulationmean,weusethetstatistict

x
s/n

whichfollowsatdistributionwithn1degreesoffreedom.
3.Determinethecriticalvaluebyfindingthevalueoftheknowndistributionoftheteststatisticsuch
thattheprobabilityofmakingaTypeIerrorwhichisdenoted(greekletter"alpha")andis
calledthe"significancelevelofthetest"issmall(typically0.01,0.05,or0.10).
4.Comparetheteststatistictothecriticalvalue.Iftheteststatisticismoreextremeinthedirectionof
thealternativethanthecriticalvalue,rejectthenullhypothesisinfavorofthealternative
hypothesis.Iftheteststatisticislessextremethanthecriticalvalue,donotrejectthenull
hypothesis.
Inourexampleconcerningthemeangradepointaverage,supposewetakearandomsampleofn=15
studentsmajoringinmathematics.Sincen=15,ourteststatistict*hasn1=14degreesoffreedom.
Also,supposewesetoursignificancelevelat0.05,sothatwehaveonlya5%chanceofmakinga
TypeIerror.
ThecriticalvalueforconductingtherighttailedtestH0:=3versusHA:>3isthetvalue,denoted
t,n1,suchthattheprobabilitytotherightofitis.Itcanbeshownusingeitherstatisticalsoftware
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orattablethatthecriticalvaluet0.05,14is1.7613.Thatis,wewouldrejectthenullhypothesisH0:=
3infavorofthealternativehypothesisHA:>3iftheteststatistict*isgreaterthan1.7613:

ThecriticalvalueforconductingthelefttailedtestH0:=3versusHA:<3isthetvalue,denoted
t(,n1),suchthattheprobabilitytotheleftofitis.Itcanbeshownusingeitherstatisticalsoftwareor
attablethatthecriticalvaluet0.05,14is1.7613.Thatis,wewouldrejectthenullhypothesisH0:=3
infavorofthealternativehypothesisHA:<3iftheteststatistict*islessthan1.7613:

TherearetwocriticalvaluesforthetwotailedtestH0:=3versusHA:3oneforthelefttail
denotedt(/2,n1)andonefortherighttaildenotedt(/2,n1).Thevaluet(/2,n1)isthetvaluesuch
thattheprobabilitytotheleftofitis/2,andthevaluet(/2,n1)isthetvaluesuchthattheprobability
totherightofitis/2.Itcanbeshownusingeitherstatisticalsoftwareorattablethatthecriticalvalue
t0.025,14is2.1448andthecriticalvaluet0.025,14is2.1448.Thatis,wewouldrejectthenullhypothesis
H0:=3infavorofthealternativehypothesisHA:3iftheteststatistict*islessthan2.1448or
greaterthan2.1448:

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