In: Statistics and Probability
Describe two factors that could affect the probability of making a type two error and how they affect it (increasing/decreasing the chance of type two error)
Two factors that can affect the probability of Type II error are :
i ) Sample size
ii ) Level of significance
The effect of these two factors on the probability of Type II error is discussed below :
i ) Sample size : As sample size increases , power of the test, which is the probability of not committing a Type II error increases , thus reducing the probability of Type II error .
ii ) Level of significance - The bigger the significance level, the bigger is the power of the test. If we increase the significance level (e.g., from 0.01 to 0.05), the region of acceptance gets smaller. As a result, it is less likely to accept the null hypothesis. This means that it is less likely to accept the null hypothesis when it is false, so there is little chance of committing a Type II error. In short, the power of the test is enlarged when we increase the significance level; and vice versa.