Question

which of the following is a true statement? (a) the p-value of a test is the probability of obtaining a result as extreme (or more extreme) as the one obtained assuming the null hypothesis is false. (b) if the p-value for a test is .015, the probability that the null hypothesis is true is .015. (c) the larger the p-value, the more evidence there is against the null hypothesis. (d) if possible, always examine your data before deciding whether to use a one-tailed or two- tailed hypothesis test. (e) the alternative hypothesis is one- tailed if there is interest in deviations from the null hypothesis in only one direction

Answer 1

The true statement is (d) always examine your data before deciding between a one-tailed or two-tailed hypothesis test as it helps determine the appropriate approach.

Step-by-step explanation:

The correct statement among the options provided is (d) if possible, always examine your data before deciding whether to use a one-tailed or two-tailed hypothesis test. The p-value is the probability of obtaining a test statistic as extreme as, or more extreme than, the one obtained from the sample data, assuming that the null hypothesis is true. It does not represent the probability that the null hypothesis is true. Therefore, statement (b) is incorrect. Statement (c) is also incorrect because a larger p-value implies that there is less evidence against the null hypothesis. The alternative hypothesis (e) can indeed be one-tailed if the interest lies in deviations from the null hypothesis in only one direction; however, to choose the type of test (one-tailed vs. two-tailed), data should be examined as indicated in statement (d), which is a best practice in hypothesis testing.