t-test summary table examples

Here are a couple of “first-draft” examples of how to present results when you are using t-tests to
compare the means of two groups. I have used Microsoft Word, and created a table. I have left the table
borders visible here so you can see what I have done, but I often “turn off” the borders around the cells
when I am printing a final draft.
These examples use the results we looked at in class. The data were from a study of students in
first grade. There are two different schools. There are girls and boys. We have scores on the "letter
knowledge" and "reading comprehension." We carried out t-tests to compare the girls and boys. Then we
compared the two schools.

These two tables are good models for what you might prepare. Change the labels and the names
of the variables, insert the correct means and standard deviations and t-values and p-values, then just paste
them into your report! Then write a paragraph in which you report the main highlights in each table. For
example:

As we can see in table 1, the girls scored only slightly higher than the boys on the test of
letter knowledge, and the difference was not large enough to be statistically significant (t =
0.66, p = .518). On the test of reading comprehension in the spring, we also see that the mean
score for the girls (M = 26.6) was not significantly higher than the mean for the boys (M =
22.3), t = 1.63, p = .108. In comparisons of the two schools, however, we do see statistically
significant differences on both the test of letter knowledge at the beginning of the year, t =
2.03, p = .046, and the text of reading comprehension in the spring, t = 3.52, p < .001.

Table 1. Comparing the girls and boys

Gender
Variable Females Males t-value prob
(n=44) (n=31)

Letter M 18.8 17.9 0.65 .518

knowledge SD (5.4) (4.8)

Reading M 25.7 22.3 1.63 .108

comprehension SD (9.2) (8.9)

Table 2. Comparing the two schools

School
Variable 1 2 t-value prob
(n=36) (n=39)

Letter M 19.5 17.1 2.03 .046

knowledge SD (6.0) (3.9)

Reading M 27.9 20.9 3.52 <.001

comprehension SD (9.0) (8.1)