Question

Please provide examples or situations where you can use higher or lower alpha level

Answer 1

The significance level α is the probability of making the wrong decision when the null hypothesis is true. Alpha levels (sometimes just called “significance levels”) are used in hypothesis tests. Usually, these tests are run with an alpha level of .05 (5%), but other levels commonly used are .01 and .10

Seeing as the alpha level is the probability of making a Type I error, it seems to make sense that we make this area as tiny as possible. For example, if we set the alpha level at 10% then there is large chance that we might incorrectly reject the null hypothesis, while an alpha level of 1% would make the area tiny. So why not use a tiny area instead of the standard 5%?

The smaller the alpha level, the smaller the area where you would reject the null hypothesis. So if you have a tiny area, there’s more of a chance that you will NOT reject the null, when in fact you should. This is a Type II error.

In other words, the more you try and avoid a Type I error, the more likely a Type II error could creep in. Scientists have found that an alpha level of 5% is a good balance between these two issues.