One sample Wilcoxon signed-rank test - overview
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One sample Wilcoxon signed-rank test | McNemar's test | Two sample $t$ test - equal variances assumed |
You cannot compare more than 3 methods |
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Independent variable | Independent variable | Independent/grouping variable | |
None | 2 paired groups | One categorical with 2 independent groups | |
Dependent variable | Dependent variable | Dependent variable | |
One of ordinal level | One categorical with 2 independent groups | One quantitative of interval or ratio level | |
Null hypothesis | Null hypothesis | Null hypothesis | |
H0: $m = m_0$
Here $m$ is the population median, and $m_0$ is the population median according to the null hypothesis. | Let's say that the scores on the dependent variable are scored 0 and 1. Then for each pair of scores, the data allow four options:
Other formulations of the null hypothesis are:
| H0: $\mu_1 = \mu_2$
Here $\mu_1$ is the population mean for group 1, and $\mu_2$ is the population mean for group 2. | |
Alternative hypothesis | Alternative hypothesis | Alternative hypothesis | |
H1 two sided: $m \neq m_0$ H1 right sided: $m > m_0$ H1 left sided: $m < m_0$ | The alternative hypothesis H1 is that for each pair of scores, P(first score of pair is 0 while second score of pair is 1) $\neq$ P(first score of pair is 1 while second score of pair is 0). That is, the probability that a pair of scores switches from 0 to 1 is not the same as the probability that a pair of scores switches from 1 to 0. Other formulations of the alternative hypothesis are:
| H1 two sided: $\mu_1 \neq \mu_2$ H1 right sided: $\mu_1 > \mu_2$ H1 left sided: $\mu_1 < \mu_2$ | |
Assumptions | Assumptions | Assumptions | |
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Test statistic | Test statistic | Test statistic | |
Two different types of test statistics can be used, but both will result in the same test outcome. We will denote the first option the $W_1$ statistic (also known as the $T$ statistic), and the second option the $W_2$ statistic.
In order to compute each of the test statistics, follow the steps below:
| $X^2 = \dfrac{(b - c)^2}{b + c}$
Here $b$ is the number of pairs in the sample for which the first score is 0 while the second score is 1, and $c$ is the number of pairs in the sample for which the first score is 1 while the second score is 0. | $t = \dfrac{(\bar{y}_1 - \bar{y}_2) - 0}{s_p\sqrt{\dfrac{1}{n_1} + \dfrac{1}{n_2}}} = \dfrac{\bar{y}_1 - \bar{y}_2}{s_p\sqrt{\dfrac{1}{n_1} + \dfrac{1}{n_2}}}$
Here $\bar{y}_1$ is the sample mean in group 1, $\bar{y}_2$ is the sample mean in group 2, $s_p$ is the pooled standard deviation, $n_1$ is the sample size of group 1, and $n_2$ is the sample size of group 2. The 0 represents the difference in population means according to the null hypothesis. The denominator $s_p\sqrt{\dfrac{1}{n_1} + \dfrac{1}{n_2}}$ is the standard error of the sampling distribution of $\bar{y}_1 - \bar{y}_2$. The $t$ value indicates how many standard errors $\bar{y}_1 - \bar{y}_2$ is removed from 0. Note: we could just as well compute $\bar{y}_2 - \bar{y}_1$ in the numerator, but then the left sided alternative becomes $\mu_2 < \mu_1$, and the right sided alternative becomes $\mu_2 > \mu_1$. | |
n.a. | n.a. | Pooled standard deviation | |
- | - | $s_p = \sqrt{\dfrac{(n_1 - 1) \times s^2_1 + (n_2 - 1) \times s^2_2}{n_1 + n_2 - 2}}$ | |
Sampling distribution of $W_1$ and of $W_2$ if H0 were true | Sampling distribution of $X^2$ if H0 were true | Sampling distribution of $t$ if H0 were true | |
Sampling distribution of $W_1$:
If $N_r$ is large, $W_1$ is approximately normally distributed with mean $\mu_{W_1}$ and standard deviation $\sigma_{W_1}$ if the null hypothesis were true. Here $$\mu_{W_1} = \frac{N_r(N_r + 1)}{4}$$ $$\sigma_{W_1} = \sqrt{\frac{N_r(N_r + 1)(2N_r + 1)}{24}}$$ Hence, if $N_r$ is large, the standardized test statistic $$z = \frac{W_1 - \mu_{W_1}}{\sigma_{W_1}}$$ follows approximately the standard normal distribution if the null hypothesis were true. Sampling distribution of $W_2$: If $N_r$ is large, $W_2$ is approximately normally distributed with mean $0$ and standard deviation $\sigma_{W_2}$ if the null hypothesis were true. Here $$\sigma_{W_2} = \sqrt{\frac{N_r(N_r + 1)(2N_r + 1)}{6}}$$ Hence, if $N_r$ is large, the standardized test statistic $$z = \frac{W_2}{\sigma_{W_2}}$$ follows approximately the standard normal distribution if the null hypothesis were true. If $N_r$ is small, the exact distribution of $W_1$ or $W_2$ should be used. Note: if ties are present in the data, the formula for the standard deviations $\sigma_{W_1}$ and $\sigma_{W_2}$ is more complicated. | If $b + c$ is large enough (say, > 20), approximately the chi-squared distribution with 1 degree of freedom. If $b + c$ is small, the Binomial($n$, $P$) distribution should be used, with $n = b + c$ and $P = 0.5$. In that case the test statistic becomes equal to $b$. | $t$ distribution with $n_1 + n_2 - 2$ degrees of freedom | |
Significant? | Significant? | Significant? | |
For large samples, the table for standard normal probabilities can be used: Two sided:
| For test statistic $X^2$:
| Two sided:
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n.a. | n.a. | $C\%$ confidence interval for $\mu_1 - \mu_2$ | |
- | - | $(\bar{y}_1 - \bar{y}_2) \pm t^* \times s_p\sqrt{\dfrac{1}{n_1} + \dfrac{1}{n_2}}$
where the critical value $t^*$ is the value under the $t_{n_1 + n_2 - 2}$ distribution with the area $C / 100$ between $-t^*$ and $t^*$ (e.g. $t^*$ = 2.086 for a 95% confidence interval when df = 20). The confidence interval for $\mu_1 - \mu_2$ can also be used as significance test. | |
n.a. | n.a. | Effect size | |
- | - | Cohen's $d$: Standardized difference between the mean in group $1$ and in group $2$: $$d = \frac{\bar{y}_1 - \bar{y}_2}{s_p}$$ Cohen's $d$ indicates how many standard deviations $s_p$ the two sample means are removed from each other. | |
n.a. | n.a. | Visual representation | |
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n.a. | Equivalent to | Equivalent to | |
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| One way ANOVA with an independent variable with 2 levels ($I$ = 2):
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Example context | Example context | Example context | |
Is the median mental health score of office workers different from $m_0 = 50$? | Does a tv documentary about spiders change whether people are afraid (yes/no) of spiders? | Is the average mental health score different between men and women? Assume that in the population, the standard deviation of mental health scores is equal amongst men and women. | |
SPSS | SPSS | SPSS | |
Specify the measurement level of your variable on the Variable View tab, in the column named Measure. Then go to:
Analyze > Nonparametric Tests > One Sample...
| Analyze > Nonparametric Tests > Legacy Dialogs > 2 Related Samples...
| Analyze > Compare Means > Independent-Samples T Test...
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Jamovi | Jamovi | Jamovi | |
T-Tests > One Sample T-Test
| Frequencies > Paired Samples - McNemar test
| T-Tests > Independent Samples T-Test
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Practice questions | Practice questions | Practice questions | |