The actual test begins by considering two hypotheses. They are called the null hypothesis and the alternate hypothesis. These hypotheses contain opposing viewpoints.
We want to test whether the average grade point average in American colleges is 2.0 (out of 4.0) or not.
We want to test if college students take less than five years to graduate from college, on the average.
In an issue of U. S. News and World Report, an article on school standards stated that about half of all students in France, Germany, and Israel take advanced placement exams and a third pass. The same article stated that 6.6% of U. S. students take advanced placement exams and 4.4 % pass. Test if the percentage of U. S. students who take advanced placement exams is more than 6.6%.
Since the null and alternate hypotheses are contradictory, you must examine evidence to decide which hypothesis the evidence supports. The evidence is in the form of sample data. The sample might support either the null hypothesis or the alternate hypothesis but not both.
After you have determined which hypothesis the sample supports, you make a decision.
There are two options for a decision. They are "reject
Mathematical Symbols Used in
| equal ( |
not equal ( |
| greater than or equal to ( |
less than ( |
| less than or equal to ( |
more than ( |
Bring to class a newspaper, some news magazines, and some Internet articles . In groups, find articles from which your group can write a null and alternate hypotheses. Discuss your hypotheses with the rest of the class.
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