Question

A very large study showed that aspirin reduced the rate of first heart attacks by 44%. A pharmaceutical company thinks they have a drug that will be more effective than aspirin, and plans to do a randomized clinical trial to test the new drug.

a) What is the null hypothesis the company will use?
b) What is their alternative hypothesis?

Answer 1

Answer:

(a) Null hypothesis: The new drug reduces the rate of first heart attacks by a percentage same as aspirin.

(b) Alternate hypothesis: The new drug reduces the rate of first heart attacks by a percentage greater than aspirin.

Step-by-step explanation:

(a) A null hypothesis is a statement from the population parameter which is either rejected or accepted (fail to reject) upon testing. It is expressed using the equality sign.

(b) An alternate hypothesis is also a statement from the population parameter which negates the null hypothesis and is accepted if the null hypothesis is rejected. It is expressed using any of the inequality signs.