This is part of the course “Probability Theory and Statistics for Programmers”.
In the previous part, we settled on Type I and Type II errors. In this part, we will look at the Power of test and underlying concepts.
The significance level of the test(α) — the probability of a Type I error, given that null hypothesis, is true. Formal representation looks this way:
Imagine we have a large normally distributed population, for example, all people on the earth. The sample will be a group of 100 randomly selected people. Then we make 50 more samples. Then for each sample, we calculate the mean. And from this means we can construct sample distribution of means. By taking α = 0.5:
From this drawing, we see that .95 of all sample means are hypothesized to be in this region. And .5 of experiments will commit type I error. Now we can make the conclusion — if we choose a very small value of α, we will be making it very difficult to reject the null hypothesis. If we choose a larger value of α, Type II errors will be less common. Visualization looks different depending on the sign in alternative hypothesis.
The probability of a Type II error is represented by β. The value of β depends on a number of factors, including the choice of α, the sample size, and the true value of the parameter.
The power of a test is the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis, given is false. It ranges from 0 to 1 and as its value increases, the probability of making a Type II error decreases.
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