Statistical Basis
The statistical principle behind any discrimination test should be to reject a null hypothesis (H0) that states there is no detectable difference between two (or more) products. If there is sufficient evidence to reject H0 in favour of the alternative hypothesis, HA:There is a detectable difference, then a difference can be recorded. However, failure to reject H0 should not be assumed to be sufficient evidence to accept it. H0 is formulated on the premise that all of the assessors guessed when they made their response. The statistical test chosen should give a probability value that the result was arrived at through pure guesswork. If this probability is sufficiently low (usually below 0.05 or 5%) then H0 can be rejected in favour of HA.
Tests used to decide whether or not to reject H0 include binomial, χ2 (Chi-squared), t-test etc.
Read more about this topic: Discrimination Testing
Famous quotes containing the word basis:
“Painting dissolves the forms at its command, or tends to; it melts them into color. Drawing, on the other hand, goes about resolving forms, giving edge and essence to things. To see shapes clearly, one outlines them—whether on paper or in the mind. Therefore, Michelangelo, a profoundly cultivated man, called drawing the basis of all knowledge whatsoever.”
—Alexander Eliot (b. 1919)