Two sample t test - equal variances not assumed - overview
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Two sample $t$ test - equal variances not assumed | Marginal Homogeneity test / Stuart-Maxwell test | Pearson correlation | McNemar's test |
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Independent/grouping variable | Independent variable | Variable 1 | Independent variable | |
One categorical with 2 independent groups | 2 paired groups | One quantitative of interval or ratio level | 2 paired groups | |
Dependent variable | Dependent variable | Variable 2 | Dependent variable | |
One quantitative of interval or ratio level | One categorical with $J$ independent groups ($J \geqslant 2$) | One quantitative of interval or ratio level | One categorical with 2 independent groups | |
Null hypothesis | Null hypothesis | Null hypothesis | Null hypothesis | |
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: for each category $j$ of the dependent variable, $\pi_j$ for the first paired group = $\pi_j$ for the second paired group.
Here $\pi_j$ is the population proportion in category $j.$ | H0: $\rho = \rho_0$
Here $\rho$ is the Pearson correlation in the population, and $\rho_0$ is the Pearson correlation in the population according to the null hypothesis (usually 0). The Pearson correlation is a measure for the strength and direction of the linear relationship between two variables of at least interval measurement level. | 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:
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Alternative hypothesis | Alternative hypothesis | Alternative hypothesis | Alternative hypothesis | |
H1 two sided: $\mu_1 \neq \mu_2$ H1 right sided: $\mu_1 > \mu_2$ H1 left sided: $\mu_1 < \mu_2$ | H1: for some categories of the dependent variable, $\pi_j$ for the first paired group $\neq$ $\pi_j$ for the second paired group. | H1 two sided: $\rho \neq \rho_0$ H1 right sided: $\rho > \rho_0$ H1 left sided: $\rho < \rho_0$ | 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:
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Assumptions | Assumptions | Assumptions of test for correlation | Assumptions | |
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Test statistic | Test statistic | Test statistic | Test statistic | |
$t = \dfrac{(\bar{y}_1 - \bar{y}_2) - 0}{\sqrt{\dfrac{s^2_1}{n_1} + \dfrac{s^2_2}{n_2}}} = \dfrac{\bar{y}_1 - \bar{y}_2}{\sqrt{\dfrac{s^2_1}{n_1} + \dfrac{s^2_2}{n_2}}}$
Here $\bar{y}_1$ is the sample mean in group 1, $\bar{y}_2$ is the sample mean in group 2, $s^2_1$ is the sample variance in group 1, $s^2_2$ is the sample variance in group 2, $n_1$ 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 $\sqrt{\frac{s^2_1}{n_1} + \frac{s^2_2}{n_2}}$ 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 $\mu_2 > \mu_1$. | Computing the test statistic is a bit complicated and involves matrix algebra. Unless you are following a technical course, you probably won't need to calculate it by hand. | Test statistic for testing H0: $\rho = 0$:
| $X^2 = \dfrac{(b - c)^2}{b + c}$
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. | |
Sampling distribution of $t$ if H0 were true | Sampling distribution of the test statistic if H0 were true | Sampling distribution of $t$ and of $z$ if H0 were true | Sampling distribution of $X^2$ if H0 were true | |
Approximately the $t$ distribution with $k$ degrees of freedom, with $k$ equal to $k = \dfrac{\Bigg(\dfrac{s^2_1}{n_1} + \dfrac{s^2_2}{n_2}\Bigg)^2}{\dfrac{1}{n_1 - 1} \Bigg(\dfrac{s^2_1}{n_1}\Bigg)^2 + \dfrac{1}{n_2 - 1} \Bigg(\dfrac{s^2_2}{n_2}\Bigg)^2}$ or $k$ = the smaller of $n_1$ - 1 and $n_2$ - 1 First definition of $k$ is used by computer programs, second definition is often used for hand calculations. | Approximately the chi-squared distribution with $J - 1$ degrees of freedom | Sampling distribution of $t$:
| 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 $b$. | |
Significant? | Significant? | Significant? | Significant? | |
Two sided:
| If we denote the test statistic as $X^2$:
| $t$ Test two sided:
| For test statistic $X^2$:
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Approximate $C\%$ confidence interval for $\mu_1 - \mu_2$ | n.a. | Approximate $C$% confidence interval for $\rho$ | n.a. | |
$(\bar{y}_1 - \bar{y}_2) \pm t^* \times \sqrt{\dfrac{s^2_1}{n_1} + \dfrac{s^2_2}{n_2}}$
where the critical value $t^*$ is the value under the $t_{k}$ 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. | - | First compute the approximate $C$% confidence interval for $\rho_{Fisher}$:
Then transform back to get the approximate $C$% confidence interval for $\rho$:
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n.a. | n.a. | Properties of the Pearson correlation coefficient | n.a. | |
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Visual representation | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | |
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n.a. | n.a. | Equivalent to | Equivalent to | |
- | - | OLS regression with one independent variable:
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Example context | Example context | Example context | Example context | |
Is the average mental health score different between men and women? | Subjects are asked to taste three different types of mayonnaise, and to indicate which of the three types of mayonnaise they like best. They then have to drink a glass of beer, and taste and rate the three types of mayonnaise again. Does drinking a beer change which type of mayonnaise people like best? | Is there a linear relationship between physical health and mental health? | Does a tv documentary about spiders change whether people are afraid (yes/no) of spiders? | |
SPSS | SPSS | SPSS | SPSS | |
Analyze > Compare Means > Independent-Samples T Test...
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Jamovi | n.a. | Jamovi | Jamovi | |
T-Tests > Independent Samples T-Test
| - | Regression > Correlation Matrix
| Frequencies > Paired Samples - McNemar test
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Practice questions | Practice questions | Practice questions | Practice questions | |