Race and IQs

[Anomalocaris]

Using your example, isn't "There is a difference in IQ between races" a claim?  And the null is "There is no difference in IQ between races" ?

I think, if I'm understanding this, the failure to demonstrate a difference between the null hypothesis fails to support the claim, but does not on that account thus support the null hypothesis.  It's a difference, if I understand things correctly, between accepting the null hypothesis ex hypothesi, and accepting it absolutely.

That’s right.

In many fields of science it is customary to establish a certain threshold for the probability of null hypothesis being true. If the calculated probability for the null hypothesis is below that, the original proposition is considered valid. Otherwise it is considered not valid. The threshold probability is heavily weighted towards the null hypothesis. Only a fairly small probability of the null hypothesis being true is sufficient to send the original proposition back for more work or directly to the trash bin.