This chapter has been an introduction to hypothesis testing. You should be able to see the relationship between the mathematics and strategies of hypothesis testing and the mathematics and strategies of interval estimation. When making an interval estimate, you construct an interval around your sample statistic based on a known sampling distribution. When testing a hypothesis, you construct an interval around a hypothesized population parameter, using a known sampling distribution to determine the width of that interval. You then see if your sample statistic falls within that interval to decide if your sample probably came from a population with that hypothesized population parameter.
Hypothesis testing is a very widely used statistical technique. It forces you to think ahead about what you might find. By forcing you to think ahead, it often helps with decision-making by forcing you to think about what goes into your decision. All of statistics requires clear thinking, and clear thinking generally makes better decisions. Hypothesis testing requires very clear thinking and often leads to better decision-making.
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