Ethan once heard that wearing colorful socks helped release your positive energy toward others.Being the scientist that he is, he decided to put the claim to the test by running a well-designed study.He had 18 people wear colorful socks and another 18 people wear white socks.After carefully designing, collecting, and analyzing his data, he found no differences between the groups that he studied.Which of these represents failing to reject the null hypothesis, something he should NOT do?
A) Fail to reject the null hypothesis and conclude that colorful socks do not help release your positive energy toward others.
B) Fail to reject the null hypothesis and conclude that the effect of colorful socks is not measureable.
C) Fail to reject the null hypothesis and conclude that, based on this study, he did not observe an effect for colorful socks.
D) Reject the null hypothesis and conclude that colorful socks may benefit positive energy.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Failing to reject the null hypothesis means that there is not enough evidence to support the alternative hypothesis. However, concluding that colorful socks do not help release positive energy is an overstatement, as the lack of observed difference does not prove the absence of any effect. This choice incorrectly interprets the failure to reject the null hypothesis as evidence of no effect, which is a common misunderstanding in hypothesis testing.

Ethan Once Heard That Wearing Colorful Socks Helped Release Your