null hypothesis

noun

: a statistical hypothesis to be tested and accepted or rejected in favor of an alternative

specifically : the hypothesis that an observed difference (as between the means of two samples) is due to chance alone and not due to a systematic cause

Examples of null hypothesis in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Of course, the only way to test that null hypothesis is to continue the search—ideally without overlooking any evidence that may lurk right under our robotic or real noses. —Derek Smith, Scientific American, 17 Apr. 2023

Scientists, by contrast, operate from what seems to most people to be the counterintuitive position of the null hypothesis: an assumption that one is wrong until proven otherwise. —WSJ, 28 Aug. 2022

But the 95% significance threshold under the permuted null hypothesis turned out to be an almost-as-spectacular r=0.84! —Neuroskeptic, Discover Magazine, 11 May 2019

Word History

First Known Use

1935, in the meaning defined above