alternative assumption to the null hypothesis

In statistical hypothesis testing, the alternative hypothesis is one of the proposed propositions in the hypothesis test. In general the goal of hypothesis test is to demonstrate that in the given condition, … Wikipedia
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Wikipedia
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Alternative hypothesis - Wikipedia
October 6, 2025 - The statement that is being tested against the null hypothesis is the alternative hypothesis. Alternative hypothesis is often denoted as Ha or H1. In statistical hypothesis testing, to prove the alternative hypothesis is true, it should be shown that the data is contradictory to the null hypothesis.
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Scribbr
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Null & Alternative Hypotheses | Definitions, Templates & Examples
January 24, 2025 - The alternative hypothesis is the complement to the null hypothesis. Null and alternative hypotheses are exhaustive, meaning that together they cover every possible outcome. They are also mutually exclusive, meaning that only one can be true at a time. TipBe careful with your words when you report the results of a statistical test in a research paper or thesis.
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Is the alternative hypothesis the same as the research hypothesis?
Yes, the alternative hypothesis is also known as the research hypothesis. It is also sometimes called the directional hypothesis. In many ways, it is the hypothesis being tested in a test of significance, and if our test is successful, then we will be able to reject the null hypothesis in favor of the alternative, or research, hypothesis.
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study.com
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Alternative Hypothesis in Statistics | Definition & Examples - ...
What is an alternative hypothesis example?
The alternative hypothesis is a hypothesis used in significance testing which contains a strict inequality. A test of significance will result in either rejecting the null hypothesis (indicating evidence in favor of the alternative) or failing to reject (indicating not enough evidence to make any decision at all). The alternative hypothesis is often a suspicion we may hold about an existing claim.
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study.com
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Alternative Hypothesis in Statistics | Definition & Examples - ...
What’s the difference between a research hypothesis and a statistical hypothesis?
A research hypothesis is your proposed answer to your research question. The research hypothesis usually includes an explanation (“x affects y because …”). · A statistical hypothesis, on the other hand, is a mathematical statement about a population parameter. Statistical hypotheses always come in pairs: the null and alternative hypotheses. In a well-designed study, the statistical hypotheses correspond logically to the research hypothesis.
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scribbr.com
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Null & Alternative Hypotheses | Definitions, Templates & Examples
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Indeed
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What Is an Alternative Hypothesis? (Definition and Examples) | Indeed.com
August 16, 2024 - The alternative hypothesis often is the statement you test when attempting to disprove the null hypothesis. If you can gather enough data to support the alternative hypothesis, it replaces the null hypothesis.Statisticians and researchers use alternative and null hypotheses when conducting research in a variety of industries, including:
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National University
resources.nu.edu › statsresources › hypothesis
Null & Alternative Hypotheses - Statistics Resources - LibGuides at National University
Alternative Hypothesis (Ha) – This is also known as the claim. This hypothesis should state what you expect the data to show, based on your research on the topic. This is your answer to your research question. ... Null Hypothesis: H0: There is no difference in the salary of factory workers ...
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BYJUS
byjus.com › maths › alternative-hypothesis
Difference Between Null and Alternative Hypothesis
August 28, 2019 - The alternative hypothesis is a statement used in statistical inference experiment. It is contradictory to the null hypothesis and denoted by Ha or H1. We can also say that it is simply an alternative to the null.
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GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › mathematics › alternative-hypothesis-definition-types-and-examples
Alternative Hypothesis: Definition, Types and Examples - GeeksforGeeks
August 30, 2025 - It is a working statement or theory that is based on insufficient evidence. While experimenting, researchers often make a claim, that they can test. These claims are often based on the relationship between two or more variables. "What causes what?" and "Up to what extent?" are a few of the questions that a hypothesis focuses on answering. The hypothesis can be true or false, based on complete evidence. While there are different hypotheses, we discuss only null and alternate hypotheses.
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Lumen Learning
courses.lumenlearning.com › introstats1 › chapter › null-and-alternative-hypotheses
Null and Alternative Hypotheses | Introduction to Statistics
They are called the null hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis. These hypotheses contain opposing viewpoints. H0: The null hypothesis: It is a statement about the population that either is believed to be true or is used to put forth an argument unless it can be shown to be incorrect beyond a reasonable doubt.
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ScienceDirect
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Alternative Hypothesis - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics
The goal of an experiment is to find statistical evidence to refute or nullify the null hypothesis in order to support the alternative hypothesis (Rosenthal and Rosnow, 2008). Some experiments may have several pairs of null hypotheses and alternative hypotheses. The characteristics of null and alternative hypotheses can be better explained through the following hypothetical research ...
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Study.com
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Alternative Hypothesis in Statistics | Definition & Examples - Lesson | Study.com
January 13, 2016 - The alternative hypothesis is the hypothesis that the researcher is trying to prove. In the Mentos and Diet Coke experiment, Arnold was trying to prove that the Diet Coke would explode if he put Mentos in the bottle.
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Minitab
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About the null and alternative hypotheses - Minitab
The null and alternative hypotheses are two mutually exclusive statements about a population. A hypothesis test uses sample data to determine whether to reject the null hypothesis. ... The null hypothesis states that a population parameter (such as the mean, the standard deviation, and so on) is equal to a hypothesized value. The null hypothesis is often an initial claim that is based on previous analyses or specialized knowledge.
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Statistics How To
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Alternate Hypothesis in Statistics: What is it? - Statistics How To
October 6, 2024 - The alternate hypothesis is usually what you will be testing in hypothesis testing. It’s a statement that you or another researcher) thinks is true and one that can ultimately lead you to reject the null hypothesis and replace it with the alternate hypothesis.
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Wall Street Mojo
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Alternative Hypothesis - Definition, Interpretation, Example
January 2, 2025 - An alternative hypothesis in statistics refers to a proposed statement or argument in the hypothesis test. It indicates the existence of the statistical relationship between variables and usually aligns with the research hypothesis.
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Statistics Solutions
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Null hypothesis and Alternative Hypothesis - Statistics Solutions
May 14, 2025 - Researchers generally denote the null hypothesis as H0. It states the exact opposite of what an investigator or an experimenter predicts or expects. It basically defines the statement which states that there is no exact or actual relationship between the variables. Researchers generally denote the alternative hypothesis as H1.
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EUPATI Toolbox
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Alternative hypothesis - EUPATI Toolbox
March 27, 2020 - In medicines development one might for example formulate the hypothesis that a new treatment for a disease is better than the existing standard of care treatment. If the new treatment is called ‘B’, and the standard of care treatment is called ‘A’ then the hypothesis states that ‘B’ is better than ‘A’. This hypothesis would be referred to as the alternative hypothesis. It is also known as the ‘research hypothesis’.
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VEDANTU
vedantu.com › maths › alternative hypothesis in maths
Alternative Hypothesis: Definition, Examples & Difference from Null Hypothesis
3 weeks ago - It contradicts the null hypothesis (H0), which states there is no significant difference. The alternative hypothesis is what the researcher believes to be true and aims to demonstrate through the experiment or analysis.
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Reddit
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r/AskStatistics on Reddit: Null hypothesis and Alternative Hypothesis
January 5, 2021 -

Hey! Can someone explain to me in simple terms the definition of null hypothesis? If u can use an example it would be great! Also if we reject the null hypothesis does it mean that the alternative hypothesis is true?

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Hi! So, yours is actually a sophisticated question that masquerades as a simple one, so I'll try to answer this in a way that conveys the concept while perhaps alluding to some of its problems. At its heart, the null hypothesis is a sort of "straw man" that is defined by a researcher at the beginning of an experiment that usually represents a state of affairs that would be expected to occur if the researcher's proposal were false. Note that a null hypothesis is entirely imaginary, and it has nothing to do with the actual state of the world. It is contrived, usually to show that the actual state of the world is inconsistent with the null hypothesis. Suppose a researcher is trying to determine whether the heights of men and women are different. A suitable null hypothesis might be that the difference of the two population averages (height of men and height of women) is equal to zero. Then the researcher would conduct his or her experiment by measuring the heights of many men and women. When it comes time to draw a statistical conclusion, he or she will compute the probability that the observed data (the set of heights) could have come from the null hypothesis (i.e., a world where there is no difference). This probability is called a "p-value". Conceptually, this is similar to a "proof by contradiction," in which we assert that, if the probability is very small that the data could have originated from the null hypothesis, it must not be true. This is what is meant by "rejecting the null hypothesis". It is different from a proof by contradiction because rejecting the null proves nothing, except perhaps that the null is unlikely to be the source of the observed data. It doesn't prove that the true difference is 5 inches, or 1 inch, or anything. Because of this, rejecting the null hypothesis is in NO WAY equivalent to accepting an alternative hypothesis. Usually, in the course of an experiment, we observe a result (such as the observed height difference, perhaps it is ~5 inches) that, once we reject, replaces the hypothesized value of 0 under the null. However, we DON'T know anything about the probability that our observed value is "correct", which is why we never say that we have "accepted" an alternative. I actually hesitate to discuss an "alternative" hypothesis because most researchers never state one and it doesn't matter for the purposes of null hypothesis significance testing (NHST). It is just the name given to the conclusion drawn by the researchers after they have rejected their null hypothesis. Philosophically, there is an adage that data can never be used to prove an assertion, only to disprove one. It includes an analogy about a turkey concluding that he is loved by his human family and is proven wrong upon being slaughtered on Thanksgiving. I'll include a link if I can find it. Now, think about this: The concept of rejecting a null hypothesis probably seems very reasonable as long as we are careful not to overinterpret it, and this is how NHST was performed for decades. But consider - what is the probability that the null hypothesis is true in the first place? In other words, how likely is it that the difference between mens' and womens' heights is equal to zero? I propose that the probability is exactly zero, and if you disagree then I will find a ruler small enough to prove me correct. The difference can never be equal to exactly zero (even though this is the "straw man" that our experiment refutes), so we are effectively testing against a hypothesis that can never be true. Rejecting a hypothesis we already know to be false tells us nothing important ("the data are unlikely to have come from this state that cannot be true"). And since every null hypothesis is imaginary, it is suggested that any null hypothesis can be rejected with enough statistical power (read:sample size). Often a "significant" result says more about a study's sample size than it does about the study's findings, even though the language used in papers/media suggests to readers that the findings are more "important" or "likely to be correct". This has, in part, led to a reproducibility crisis in the sciences and, for some, an undermining of subject-matter-experts' trust in the use of applied statistics.
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The null hypothesis (Ho) signifies no change. The alternative hypothesis (Ha) signifies a change. If we reject the null, we have evidence for the alternative hypothesis. This doesn’t mean that it’s true just that within this study, we have evidence to support the alternative hypothesis. If we fail to reject the null (we don’t use the word accept) then there is not enough evidence supporting the alternative hypothesis. Example: I’m wondering if smoking impacts lung function using a spirometry test that measures forced exploratory volume per second (FEV1). Ho: There is no difference in FEV1 between smokers vs non smokers Ha: There is a difference in FEV1 between smokers and non smokers. Rejecting or failing to reject the null aka Ho will involve more steps than just analyzing the mean FEV1 between the two groups, so let’s stop here before we get into more hypothesis testing.
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ALLEN
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Alternative Hypothesis: Definition, Formulas & Applications
June 8, 2025 - The alternative hypothesis is a key concept in statistical hypothesis testing. It proposes that there is a significant effect or difference in a population, challenging the assumption made by the null hypothesis. Researchers aim to find evidence supporting the alternative hypothesis to validate ...
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Sixsigma DSI
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Alternative Hypothesis: For Statistical Testing
July 4, 2025 - When researchers conduct experiments or tests, they use the alternative hypothesis to propose what they expect to find—such as a new treatment working better than the current one, or a relationship existing between two factors. If the evidence from the data is strong enough, the alternative hypothesis is supported, indicating that the observed results are unlikely to be due to chance alone.
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Statlect
statlect.com › glossary › alternative-hypothesis
Alternative hypothesis | Explanation and examples
In a statistical test, observed data is used to decide whether or not to reject a restriction on the data-generating probability distribution. The assumption that the restriction is true is called null hypothesis, while the statement that the restriction is not true is called alternative hypothesis.