Null Hypothesis
Message posted by Rain (via 205.188.192.174) on April 13, 2001 at 12:00 AM (ET)

I have always had trouble with the idea of the null hypothesis. Could someone please clarify what the basic idea is? There is so much debate about whether or not it is viable, that often I find myself lost in what the battle is actually over! Is the null hypothesis the opposite of the experimental hypothesis (i.e. what you do not believe) and, as a result, what you are hoping to disprove by your research? I.e. If you hypothesizing that cognitive impairments occur in a an anorexic person when the person is below 60% of her ideal body weight, and you assumed that it probably does, would the null hypothesis be that cognitive do not occur in an anorexic person under 60% of her ideal body weight? Would you then say that if you found (and you most likely would)cognitive deficeits that you reject the null hypothesis? Could someone tell me more or help me clarify this idea? THANK YOU!

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Re: Null Hypothesis
Message posted by Bill (via 192.231.71.108) on April 16, 2001 at 1:49 PM (ET)