Statistical Hypothesis Testing - Education

Education

Statistics is increasingly being taught in schools with hypothesis testing being one of the elements taught. Many conclusions reported in the popular press (political opinion polls to medical studies) are based on statistics. An informed public should understand the limitations of statistical conclusions and many college fields of study require a course in statistics for the same reason. An introductory college statistics class places much emphasis on hypothesis testing - perhaps half of the course. Even such fields as literature and divinity now include findings based on statistical analysis (see the Bible Analyzer). An introductory statistics class teaches hypothesis testing as a cookbook process. Hypothesis testing is also taught at the postgraduate level. Statisticians learn how to create good statistical test procedures (like z, Student's t, F and chi-squared). Statistical hypothesis testing is considered a mature area within statistics, but a limited amount of development continues.