null hypothesis

American  

noun

1. (in the statistical testing of a hypothesis) the hypothesis to be tested.

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null hypothesis British  

noun

1. statistics the residual hypothesis if the alternative hypothesis tested against it fails to achieve a predetermined significance level Compare hypothesis testing alternative hypothesis

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Etymology

Origin of null hypothesis

First recorded in 1930–35

Compare meaning

How does null-hypothesis compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• null hypothesis vs. alternative hypothesis

Example Sentences

This bias in favor of the null hypothesis is what gives rise to the statement "tyranny of the status quo" when discussing hypothesis testing and the scientific method.

From Textbooks • Nov. 29, 2017

This concept is sometimes referred to the tyranny of the status quo because as we will see later, to overthrow the null hypothesis takes usually 90 or greater confidence that this is the proper decision.

From Textbooks • Nov. 29, 2017

For example, if the null hypothesis is equal to some value, the alternative has to be not equal to that value.

From Textbooks • Nov. 29, 2017

The probability that an average time of 16 minutes could come from a distribution with a population mean of 16.43 minutes is too unlikely for us to accept the null hypothesis.

From Textbooks • Nov. 29, 2017

Thus, we can reject the null hypothesis and tentatively accept that, for whatever reason, people do seem to wait until their birthdays to die.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos