A skeptical paranormal researcher claims that the proportion of Americans that have seen a UFO, p, is less than 5%. Identify the Type II error in this context.

Question

A) The error of accepting the claim that the true proportion is at least 5% when it really is at least 5%.

B) The error of accepting the claim that the true proportion is at least 5% when it is actually less than 5%.

C) The error of failing to reject the claim that the true proportion is at least 5% when it is actually less than 5%.

Answer 1

Null Hypothesis: p≥0.05

Alternate Hypothesis: p<0.05

A Type II error occurs when one fails to reject the null hypothesis when it is actually false. Therefore, if the null hypothesis is actually false, then this would mean the alternate hypothesis is true. Hence, C would be correct!

Hope this helped!

Answer 2

A type II error occurs when one fails to reject the null hypothesis even though it is true.

In this case, C would be the correct answer because you are failing to reject the claim that the proportion is at least 5% when in actuality, the proportion is less than 5%