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 | Friedman test |
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Independent variable | Independent variable | Independent/grouping variable | Independent/grouping variable | |
None | 2 paired groups | One categorical with 2 independent groups | One within subject factor ($\geq 2$ related groups) | |
Dependent variable | Dependent variable | Dependent variable | Dependent variable | |
One of ordinal level | One categorical with 2 independent groups | One quantitative of interval or ratio level | One of ordinal level | |
Null hypothesis | 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. | H0: the population scores in any of the related groups are not systematically higher or lower than the population scores in any of the other related groups
Usually the related groups are the different measurement points. Several different formulations of the null hypothesis can be found in the literature, and we do not agree with all of them. Make sure you (also) learn the one that is given in your text book or by your teacher. | |
Alternative hypothesis | 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: $\mu_1 < \mu_2$ | H1: the population scores in some of the related groups are systematically higher or lower than the population scores in other related groups | |
Assumptions | Assumptions | Assumptions | Assumptions | |
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Test statistic | 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 $\mu_2 > \mu_1$. | $Q = \dfrac{12}{N \times k(k + 1)} \sum R^2_i - 3 \times N(k + 1)$
Here $N$ is the number of 'blocks' (usually the subjects - so if you have 4 repeated measurements for 60 subjects, $N$ equals 60), $k$ is the number of related groups (usually the number of repeated measurements), and $R_i$ is the sum of ranks in group $i$. Remember that multiplication precedes addition, so first compute $\frac{12}{N \times k(k + 1)} \times \sum R^2_i$ and then subtract $3 \times N(k + 1)$. Note: if ties are present in the data, the formula for $Q$ is more complicated. | |
n.a. | n.a. | Pooled standard deviation | n.a. | |
- | - | $s_p = \sqrt{\dfrac{(n_1 - 1) \times s^2_1 + (n_2 - 1) \times s^2_2}{n_1 + n_2 - 2}}$ | - | |
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 $Q$ 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 | If the number of blocks $N$ is large, approximately the chi-squared distribution with $k - 1$ degrees of freedom.
For small samples, the exact distribution of $Q$ should be used. | |
Significant? | Significant? | Significant? | Significant? | |
For large samples, the table for standard normal probabilities can be used: Two sided:
| For test statistic $X^2$:
| Two sided:
| If the number of blocks $N$ is large, the table with critical $X^2$ values can be used. If we denote $X^2 = Q$:
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n.a. | n.a. | $C\%$ confidence interval for $\mu_1 - \mu_2$ | n.a. | |
- | - | $(\bar{y}_1 - \bar{y}_2) \pm t^* \times s_p\sqrt{\dfrac{1}{n_1} + \dfrac{1}{n_2}}$
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 | n.a. | |
- | - | 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 | n.a. | |
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n.a. | Equivalent to | Equivalent to | n.a. | |
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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 | 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. | Is there a difference in depression level between measurement point 1 (pre-intervention), measurement point 2 (1 week post-intervention), and measurement point 3 (6 weeks post-intervention)? | |
SPSS | 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...
| Analyze > Nonparametric Tests > Legacy Dialogs > K Related Samples...
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Jamovi | Jamovi | Jamovi | Jamovi | |
T-Tests > One Sample T-Test
| Frequencies > Paired Samples - McNemar test
| T-Tests > Independent Samples T-Test
| ANOVA > Repeated Measures ANOVA - Friedman
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Practice questions | Practice questions | Practice questions | Practice questions | |