Definition:
The null hypothesis is like saying "nothing interesting is going on" or "there's no difference" in whatever you're studying. It's the idea you're trying to test or challenge with your experiment or study.
Example:
- Let's say you're testing a new fertilizer to see if it makes plants grow taller. The null hypothesis (H0) in this case would be: "The new fertilizer has no effect on the height of the plants."
- Another example could be if you're testing whether a new drug reduces headaches. The null hypothesis (H0) would be: "The new drug has no effect on reducing headaches."
Conclusion:
In simpler terms, the null hypothesis is like saying "nothing special is happening" or "there's no difference" in whatever you're studying. It's the idea you're trying to gather evidence against in your statistical analysis.
So, the null hypothesis is essentially the baseline assumption that there's no effect, change, or difference happening in what you're investigating. It's the starting point for your research, and you're trying to see if you can prove it wrong.