Here are the essential concepts you must grasp in order to answer the question correctly.
Critical Values
Critical values are the threshold points that define the boundaries for rejecting the null hypothesis in hypothesis testing. In a two-tailed test, critical values are determined based on the significance level (alpha) and the distribution of the test statistic. They mark the points beyond which the test statistic is considered extreme enough to reject the null hypothesis.
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Critical Values: t-Distribution
Alpha Level (α)
The alpha level, often denoted as α, represents the probability of making a Type I error, which occurs when the null hypothesis is incorrectly rejected. Common alpha levels are 0.05, 0.01, and 0.10. As alpha decreases, the criteria for rejecting the null hypothesis become stricter, leading to a higher threshold for critical values.
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Critical Values: z Scores
Two-Tailed Test
A two-tailed test is a statistical test that evaluates whether a sample mean is significantly different from a population mean in either direction (greater or less). This type of test is used when the alternative hypothesis does not specify a direction of the effect. As alpha decreases, the critical values move further from the mean, reflecting the need for stronger evidence to reject the null hypothesis.
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