null hypothesis

American  

noun

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

---

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

---

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

Nevertheless, the conclusions as to the null hypothesis should be different with only the level of probability of α.

From Textbooks • Nov. 29, 2017

H0: The null hypothesis: It is a statement of no difference between a sample mean or proportion and a population mean or proportion.

From Textbooks • Nov. 29, 2017

This was called a two-tailed test because the alternative hypothesis allowed that the mean could have come from a population which was either larger or smaller than the hypothesized mean in the null hypothesis.

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

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