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Introduction
A hypothesis test is a procedure for determining if an assertion about a characteristic of a population is reasonable.
For example, suppose that someone says that the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gas in Massachusetts is $1.15. How would you decide whether this statement is true? You could try to find out what every gas station in the state was charging and how many gallons they were selling at that price. That approach might be definitive, but it could end up costing more than the information is worth.
A simpler approach is to find out the price of gas at a small number of randomly chosen stations around the state and compare the average price to $1.15.
Of course, the average price you get will probably not be exactly $1.15 due to variability in price from one station to the next. Suppose your average price was $1.18. Is this three cent difference a result of chance variability, or is the original assertion incorrect? A hypothesis test can provide an answer.
The following sections provide an overview of hypothesis testing with the Statistics Toolbox:
| | Regression and Classification Trees | Hypothesis Test Terminology | |