[Coining phrase "null hypothesis"] In relation to any experiment we may speak of this hypothesis as the "null hypothesis," and it should be noted that the null hypothesis is never proved or established, but is possibly disproved, in the course of experimentation. Every experiment may be said to exist only in order to give the facts a chance of disproving the null hypothesis.
If one in twenty does not seem high enough odds, we may, if we prefer it, draw the line at one in fifty (the 2 per cent. point), or one in a hundred (the 1 per cent. point). Personally, the writer prefers to set a low standard of significance at the 5 per cent. point, and ignore entirely all results which fail to reach this level. A scientific fact should be regarded as experimentally established only if a properly designed experiment rarely fails to give this level of significance.
![[Coining phrase null hypothesis] In relation to any experiment we may speak of this hypothesis as the null hypothesis, and it should be noted that the null hypothesis is never proved or established, but is possibly](http://cdn.quoteddaily.com/images/ronald-fisher/coining-phrase-null-hypothesis-in-relation-to-any-experiment-we-may-speak-of-this-hypothesis-as-the-null-hypothesis-and.jpg)
