Question

The director of research and development is testing a new medicine. She wants to know if there is evidence that the medicine relieves pain in less than 390 seconds on average. For a sample of 100 patients, the average time in which the medicine relieved pain was 382 seconds. Assume the standard deviation is 24 seconds. 1. State the alternative hypothesis

Answer 1

The alternative hypothesis is that there is evidence that the medicine relieves pain in less than 390 seconds on average.

In hypothesis testing, the null hypothesis (usually denoted as H₀ represents the status quo or the default assumption, while the alternative hypothesis (usually denoted as H₁ represents a claim or assertion that contradicts the null hypothesis. In this case, the null hypothesis might be that the average time for the medicine to relieve pain is 390 seconds or more.

The alternative hypothesis would then be that the average time is less than 390 seconds. In summary, the alternative hypothesis is that there is evidence that the medicine relieves pain in less than 390 seconds on average.