Suppose we ask 20 people selected at random whether they like pizza with anchovies (a strong fish that is often on menus as a pizza topping), and find that none of them do. Now consider the following two hypotheses as potential explanations for this:

H1: No one likes anchovies.

H2: Some people, but not many, like anchovies.

Given our background knowledge along with this evidence, which of these two hypotheses should we be more confident in and why?

Question 8Answer

a.
H1 because it fits better with our background knowledge


b.
We should be equally confident in both


c.
H2 because it fits better with our background knowledge


d.
H2 because it makes the evidence more probable than does H1


e.
H1 because it makes the evidence more probable than does H2