Question

The historical U.S. mean unemployment insurance benefit was reported to be $238 per week. A researcher in the state of Virginia anticipated that sample data would show evidence that the mean weekly unemployment insurance benefit in Virginia was above the national level. What would be the appropriate alternative hypothesis if he wanted to substantiate his suspicion

Answer 1

The appropriate alternative hypothesis if he wanted to substantiate his suspicion would be
`H_(a): \mu > 238`

Explanation:

At the null hypothesis, we test that the mean is equal to a certain value.

At the alternate hypothesis, we test that the mean is different, less than or more than the mean value tested at the null hypothesis.

The historical U.S. mean unemployment insurance benefit was reported to be $238 per week.

This means that the null hypothesis is:

`H_(0): \mu = 238`

A researcher in the state of Virginia anticipated that sample data would show evidence that the mean weekly unemployment insurance benefit in Virginia was above the national level.

This means that the alternate hypothesis is:

`H_(a): \mu > 238`