假设检定是推论统计中用于检验统计假设的一种方法。而“统计假设”是可通过观察一组随机变量的模型进行检验的科学假说。一旦能估计未知参数，就会希望根据结果对未知的真正参数值做出适当的推论。

统计上对参数的假设，就是对一个或多个参数的论述。而其中欲检验其正确性的为零假设（null hypothesis），零假设通常由研究者决定，反应研究者对未知参数的看法。相对于零假设的其他有关参数之论述是对立假设（alternative hypothesis），它通常反应了运行检定的研究者对参数可能数值的另一种（对立的）看法（换句话说，对立假设通常才是研究者最想知道的）。

A statistical hypothesis is a hypothesis that is testable on the basis of observing a process that is modeled via a set of random variables. A statistical hypothesis test is a method of statistical inference. Commonly, two statistical data sets are compared, or a data set obtained by sampling is compared against a synthetic data set from an idealized model. A hypothesis is proposed for the statistical relationship between the two data sets, and this is compared as an alternative to an idealized null hypothesis that proposes no relationship between two data sets. The comparison is deemed statistically significant if the relationship between the data sets would be an unlikely realization of the null hypothesis according to a threshold probability—the significance level. Hypothesis tests are used in determining what outcomes of a study would lead to a rejection of the null hypothesis for a pre-specified level of significance. The process of distinguishing between the null hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis is aided by identifying two conceptual types of errors (type 1 & type 2), and by specifying parametric limits on e.g. how much type 1 error will be permitted.