Probability Of Type I Error And Type Ii Error
by the level of significance and the power for the test. Therefore, you should determine which error has more severe consequences for your situation before you define their risks. No hypothesis test is 100% certain. Because the test is based on probabilities, there is always a chance of drawing an incorrect conclusion. Type I error When the null hypothesis is true and you reject it, you make a type I error. The probability of making a type I error is α, which is the level of significance you set for your hypothesis test. An α of 0.05 indicates that you are willing to accept a 5% chance that you are wrong when you reject the null hypothesis. To lower this risk, you must use a lower value for α. However, using a lower value for alpha means that you will be less likely to detect a true difference if one really exists. Type II error When the null hypothesis is false and you fail to reject it, you make a type II error. The probability of making a type II error is β, which depends on the power of the test. You can decrease your risk of committing a type II error by ensuring your test has enough power. You can do this by ensuring your sample size is large enough to detect a practical difference when one truly exists. The probability of rejecting the null hypothesis when it is false is equal to 1–β. This value is the power of the test. Null Hypothesis Decision True False Fail to reject Correct Decision (probability = 1 - α) Type II Error - fail to reject the null when it is false (probability = β) Reject Type I Error - rejecting the null when it is true (probability = α) Correct Decision (probability = 1 - β) Example of type I and type II error To understand the interrelationship between type I and type II error, and to determine which error has more severe consequences for your situation, consider the following example. A medical researcher wants to compare the effectiveness of two medications. The null and alternative hypotheses are: Null hypothesis (H0): μ1
when it is in fact true is called a Type I error. Many people decide, before doing a hypothesis test, on a maximum p-value for which they will reject the null hypothesis. This value is often denoted α (alpha) and is also called the significance level. When a hypothesis test results in a p-value that is less than the significance level, the result of the hypothesis test is called statistically significant. Common mistake: Confusing statistical significance and practical significance. Example: A large clinical trial is carried out to http://support.minitab.com/en-us/minitab/17/topic-library/basic-statistics-and-graphs/hypothesis-tests/basics/type-i-and-type-ii-error/ compare a new medical treatment with a standard one. The statistical analysis shows a statistically significant difference in lifespan when using the new treatment compared to the old one. But the increase in lifespan is at most three days, with average increase less than 24 hours, and with poor quality of life during the period of extended life. Most people would not consider the https://www.ma.utexas.edu/users/mks/statmistakes/errortypes.html improvement practically significant. Caution: The larger the sample size, the more likely a hypothesis test will detect a small difference. Thus it is especially important to consider practical significance when sample size is large. Connection between Type I error and significance level: A significance level α corresponds to a certain value of the test statistic, say tα, represented by the orange line in the picture of a sampling distribution below (the picture illustrates a hypothesis test with alternate hypothesis "µ > 0") Since the shaded area indicated by the arrow is the p-value corresponding to tα, that p-value (shaded area) is α. To have p-value less thanα , a t-value for this test must be to the right oftα. So the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis when it is true is the probability that t > tα, which we saw above is α. In other words, the probability of Type I error is α.1 Rephrasing using the definition of Type I error: The significance level αis the probability of making the wrong decision when the null hypothesis is true. Pros and Cons of Setting a Significance Level: Set
the null hypothesis should not be accepted when the effect is not significant In the Physicians' Reactions case study, the probability value associated with http://onlinestatbook.com/2/logic_of_hypothesis_testing/errors.html the significance test is 0.0057. Therefore, the null hypothesis was rejected, and it was concluded that physicians intend to spend less time with obese patients. Despite the low probability value, it is possible that the null hypothesis of no true difference between obese and average-weight patients is true and that the large difference between sample probability of means occurred by chance. If this is the case, then the conclusion that physicians intend to spend less time with obese patients is in error. This type of error is called a Type I error. More generally, a Type I error occurs when a significance test results in the rejection of a true null hypothesis. By probability of type one common convention, if the probability value is below 0.05, then the null hypothesis is rejected. Another convention, although slightly less common, is to reject the null hypothesis if the probability value is below 0.01. The threshold for rejecting the null hypothesis is called the α (alpha) level or simply α. It is also called the significance level. As discussed in the section on significance testing, it is better to interpret the probability value as an indication of the weight of evidence against the null hypothesis than as part of a decision rule for making a reject or do-not-reject decision. Therefore, keep in mind that rejecting the null hypothesis is not an all-or-nothing decision. The Type I error rate is affected by the α level: the lower the α level, the lower the Type I error rate. It might seem that α is the probability of a Type I error. However, this is not correct. Instead, α is the probability of a Type I