Introduction > Getting Started in Science > Hypotheses > Testing Your Hypothesis

Testing Your Hypothesis You’ve formulated your hypothesis - so what's next? You now need to test your hypothesis and this is done by collecting data and analysing the results. Statistical tests determine the probability that a null hypothesis is true. The Null Hypothesis has been assumed true When you apply a statistical test to your data and it results in a high probability ('P') value (generally referred to as P >0.05) it means the scenario presented in your null hypothesis (H0) is likely to occur and therefore you accept the null hypothesis and reject the alternate hypothesis (H1). For example, if you have designed an experiment investigating the relationship between tractor tyre dimension and the effect on soil compaction, your null hypothesis would be accepted if there was no relationship between tractor tyre dimension and soil compaction. The Null Hypothesis has been rejected If your data are analysed and the results show a low probability ('P') value (usually described as P<0.05), it means that you should reject the null hypothesis in favour of the alternate hypothesis. Using the example above, your null hypothesis would be rejected if you discovered a relationship between tractor tyre dimension and soil compaction.

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