Hypothesis testing
Lesson 5 of 10
Setting up hypotheses
Objective. State null and alternative hypotheses correctly for a test.
The key idea
H₀ states no change and always uses equality. H₁ states the suspected change and decides whether the test is one-tailed or two-tailed.
Worked example
A coin is suspected of favouring heads. Write the hypotheses.
- 1Let p be the probability of heads.
- 2H₀: p = 0.5 (fair).
- 3H₁: p > 0.5 (one-tailed, favours heads).
Answer: H₀: p = 0.5, H₁: p > 0.5
Practice
Each question comes with a picture and a listen button. Try it first, then reveal the answer.
Common mistake. Putting the claim being tested into H₀ instead of H₁.
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