Hypothesis testing allows for testing an idea regarding a parameter of interest in a particular population set, using information that has been measured in a sample set.

Hypothesis testing is a procedure for evaluating the strength of a hypothesis. The methodology depends on the data and the reason for the analysis.

Today our goal is to cover hypothesis testing and the basic z-test, as these are fundamental to understanding how the t-test works. We’ll return to the t-test soon — with real data.