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Goodness of Fit Test definitions

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  • Goodness of Fit Test
    Statistical procedure for assessing if observed category frequencies align with those predicted by a specific distribution.
  • Observed Frequency
    Actual count of occurrences in each category collected from sample data.
  • Expected Frequency
    Theoretical count for each category, calculated based on the claimed probability distribution.
  • Null Hypothesis
    Assumption that observed frequencies match those predicted by the claimed distribution.
  • Alternative Hypothesis
    Statement that at least one observed frequency differs from the expected frequency.
  • Chi-Squared Statistic
    Sum of squared differences between observed and expected frequencies, divided by expected frequencies.
  • Degrees of Freedom
    Value found by subtracting one from the number of categories, used in interpreting the test statistic.
  • P-Value
    Probability of obtaining a test statistic as extreme as, or more extreme than, the observed value under the null hypothesis.
  • Significance Level
    Threshold probability, often denoted alpha, used to decide whether to reject the null hypothesis.
  • Uniform Distribution
    Probability model where all categories are equally likely, leading to equal expected frequencies.
  • Critical Value
    Cutoff point from the chi-squared distribution used to determine statistical significance.
  • Random Sample
    Data collection method ensuring each member of the population has an equal chance of selection.
  • Category
    Distinct group or outcome for which frequencies are counted in the analysis.
  • Sample Size
    Total number of observations or trials included in the dataset.
  • Benford's Law
    Empirical rule stating that in many datasets, lower digits appear as leading digits more frequently than higher digits.