When will a null hypothesis be rejected?

A null hypothesis is a statement that indicates no statistical significance or relationship exists between the variables being studied. It serves as a starting point for statistical testing and suggests that any observed effect is due to chance rather than a systematic cause.

When data is analyzed, if the results show evidence of significance, the null hypothesis will typically be rejected. This rejection occurs because the evidence indicates that there is likely a true effect or relationship present among the variables. In other words, if the research shows a statistically significant result, it supports the idea that the independent and dependent variables are, in fact, related, leading to the rejection of the null hypothesis and acceptance of the research hypothesis instead.

The presence of significant evidence indicates that the observed relationship is unlikely to have occurred by chance, therefore justifying the rejection of the null hypothesis while supporting alternative conclusions about the relationship between the variables being investigated. This process is fundamental to hypothesis testing in research, allowing researchers to draw conclusions based on empirical evidence.