Null and Alternative Hypothesis for Means: Learn It 1

  • Explain the purpose of hypothesis testing.
  • Write the null and alternative hypotheses for tests on population means.
  • Check the conditions for hypothesis tests for population means.
In a hypothesis test, sample data is evaluated in order to arrive at a decision about some type of claim. The actual test begins by considering two hypotheses (the null hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis). These hypotheses contain opposing viewpoints.

Plastic Pollution

Plastic waste surrounding a globe.

Plastic pollution has become one of the most pressing environmental issues, as rapidly increasing production of disposable plastic products overwhelms the world’s ability to deal with them.[1] Given the global scale of plastic pollution, the cost of removing plastics from the environment would be excessively high. Most solutions to the problem of plastic pollution, therefore, focus on preventing improper disposal or even on limiting the use of certain plastic items in the first place.[2]

Let’s look at the “plastics” dataset. This data set is a sample of plastic products collected by community volunteers in countries around the world during a brand audit to see what types of plastics are found in waste and which companies the plastics found came from.

The data set can be accessed here: Coca-Cola Data Set.


  1. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/plastic-pollution
  2. https://www.britannica.com/science/plastic-pollution/Plastic-pollution-in-oceans-and-on-land