Hypothesis Testing - Introduction

A researcher may form an *a priori* hypothesis about a parameter and then use information from a sample to judge the "correctness" of the hypothesis. This judgment is complicated by sampling variability. Thus, an elaborate procedure is used to make sure that the final conclusion acknowledges the imperfect representation of the parameter by the statistic. This procedure is called hypothesis testing and is the focus of this module.

After completing this module, you should be able to ...

1. Describe the relationship between the scientific method and statistical hypothesis testing.
2. Properly construct statistical hypotheses.
3. Describe the concept underlying significance testing.