PracHub
QuestionsPremiumLearningGuidesInterview PrepNEWCoaches
|Home/Statistics & Math/Meta

Explain Type I vs. Type II Errors in A/B Testing

Last updated: Mar 29, 2026

Quick Overview

This question evaluates understanding of statistical hypothesis testing—specifically the concepts of Type I and Type II errors, power and threshold selection—and competency in robust estimation and inference for skewed, heavy-tailed A/B testing metrics.

  • medium
  • Meta
  • Statistics & Math
  • Data Scientist

Explain Type I vs. Type II Errors in A/B Testing

Company: Meta

Role: Data Scientist

Category: Statistics & Math

Difficulty: medium

Interview Round: Onsite

##### Scenario Meta Data Scientist onsite round focused on statistical reasoning behind product experimentation. ##### Question Explain the difference between Type I and Type II errors in A/B testing and how you would choose acceptable levels for each at Meta. If the metric distribution is highly skewed with outliers, how would you estimate treatment lift and construct a confidence interval? ##### Hints Discuss α vs β, power analysis, non-parametric tests, bootstrapping or transforms for skewed data.

Quick Answer: This question evaluates understanding of statistical hypothesis testing—specifically the concepts of Type I and Type II errors, power and threshold selection—and competency in robust estimation and inference for skewed, heavy-tailed A/B testing metrics.

Related Interview Questions

  • Compute probability an account is fake - Meta (easy)
  • Compute Bayes probability for fake accounts - Meta (easy)
  • Compute probabilities for chatbot response quality - Meta (easy)
  • Compute posterior fake probability using Bayes' rule - Meta (medium)
  • Estimate bots and CI from DAU spike - Meta (medium)
Meta logo
Meta
Aug 4, 2025, 10:55 AM
Data Scientist
Onsite
Statistics & Math
17
0

A/B Testing Errors and Estimation Under Skewed Metrics

Context

You are analyzing an A/B experiment for a product feature. You need to explain the statistical error types and defend thresholds you would use. The primary metric can be heavy-tailed (e.g., time spent, revenue per user) with outliers.

Tasks

  1. Define and contrast Type I and Type II errors in A/B testing, and explain how you would choose acceptable levels (α and β/power) in this context.
  2. If the metric distribution is highly skewed with outliers, describe how you would estimate the treatment lift and construct a confidence interval. Discuss appropriate methods (e.g., non-parametric tests, bootstrapping, or transformations) and when you would use them.

Solution

Show

Comments (0)

Sign in to leave a comment

Loading comments...

Browse More Questions

More Statistics & Math•More Meta•More Data Scientist•Meta Data Scientist•Meta Statistics & Math•Data Scientist Statistics & Math
PracHub

Master your tech interviews with 7,500+ real questions from top companies.

Product

  • Questions
  • Learning Tracks
  • Interview Guides
  • Resources
  • Premium
  • For Universities
  • Student Access

Browse

  • By Company
  • By Role
  • By Category
  • Topic Hubs
  • SQL Questions
  • Compare Platforms
  • Discord Community

Support

  • support@prachub.com
  • (916) 541-4762

Legal

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • About Us

© 2026 PracHub. All rights reserved.