We are often tempted to say that we prove a hypothesis when the data conform to the prediction; this isn’t really true. Because our result is based on statistics, there is always the possibility that...

We are often tempted to say that we prove a hypothesis when the data conform to the prediction; this isn’t really true. Because our result is based on statistics, there is always the possibility that our conclusion is wrong. Now, at times we can be very, very confident in our conclusion, but from an absolute perspective, statistics cannot prove a hypothesis is true. Exhibit 3.6 illustrates how decision statements are linked to research objectives, which are linked to research hypotheses. Although the first two objectives each have one