Editing Statistical hypothesis test (section)

=== Practical example ===
The difference in the two processes applied to the radioactive suitcase example (below):
* "The Geiger-counter reading is 10. The limit is 9. Check the suitcase."
* "The Geiger-counter reading is high; 97% of safe suitcases have lower readings. The limit is 95%. Check the suitcase."
The former report is adequate, the latter gives a more detailed explanation of the data and the reason why the suitcase is being checked.

Not rejecting the null hypothesis does not mean the null hypothesis is "accepted" per se (though Neyman and Pearson used that word in their original writings; see the [[#Interpretation|Interpretation]] section).

The processes described here are perfectly adequate for computation. They seriously neglect the [[design of experiments]] considerations.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Hinkelmann, Klaus|author2=Kempthorne, Oscar |author-link2=Oscar Kempthorne |year=2008|title=Design and Analysis of Experiments|volume=I and II|edition=Second|publisher=Wiley|isbn=978-0-470-38551-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Montgomery|first=Douglas|title=Design and analysis of experiments|publisher=Wiley|location=Hoboken, N.J.|year=2009|isbn=978-0-470-12866-4}}</ref>

It is particularly critical that appropriate sample sizes be estimated before conducting the experiment.

The phrase "test of significance" was coined by statistician [[Ronald Fisher]].<ref name="Fisher1925">R. A. Fisher (1925).''Statistical Methods for Research Workers'', Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1925, p.43.</ref>