The 5 Steps to Hypothesis Testing for one sample

Always think about the alternative hypothesis (H1) first. 

If the question states “ I am trying to find out if the average weight is greater than 50kg” then the alternate hypothesis will be: average mean more than 50 hence null hypothesis (Ho) will just be less than or equal to:

Ho: M  < 50
H1: M > 50

Similarly, the claim can be less than or not equal to

Step 2: Calculate the test statistics

• There are two test statistics: z test or t test 
• Usage of z ot t test varies from textbook to textbook. One of the most popular ways to identify the test include whether the population standard deviation is known.
• If population standard deviation is known, then use a Z test
• If population standard deviation is unknown, then use a t test

Read: What is Z statistics Formula

Step 3: Find the critical value based on significance level (eg. 1%, 5%, 10%)

Look at z to t table to find the critical value

Step 4: Compare the test statistics and critical value

if test statistics (z ot t) is more than the positive critical value or less than the negative critical value, then reject Ho

Step 5: Conclusion

We always use the normal distribution graph to help us through step 4. 

Want to learn how to do that? There are many variations for the hypothesis testing. Want us to speed up your learning process?