What is a null hypothesis vs an alternative hypothesis?
The null hypothesis (H0) and alternative hypothesis (H1) are used in statistical hypothesis testing.
The null hypothesis states that there is no relationship between two variables nor effect of a manipulation (i.e., nothing is happening). For example, “Drinking a cup of coffee does not increase reading speed.”
The alternative hypothesis predicts that there is an effect; for example, “Drinking a cup of coffee does increase reading speed.”
If your data provide sufficient evidence (i.e., yield statistically significant results), you can “reject” the null hypothesis in favor of the alternative hypothesis. In other words, you can conclude that your results support the alternative hypothesis.
Note that you can never prove or disprove a hypothesis; we can only determine whether the data provide enough evidence to support or reject it.
Terminology related to hypothesis testing is very precise and can be confusing. QuillBot’s free AI writer is a great tool to help you perfect your wording.