Flow Chart for Selecting Commonly Used Statistical Tests

Parametric Assumptions:
1. Independent, unbiased samples Type of data?
2. Data normally distributed
3. Equal variances
Continuous Discrete, categorical

Chi-square tests
Type of question one and two sample

Relationships Differences

Do you have a true Differences between Means

independent variable? what?

Yes No Tests for

Equal Variances
Fmax test,
Regression Brown and Smythe’s test,
Analyses Correlation Analysis
Bartlett’s tests

Parametric Nonparametric
Spearman’s Rank How many treatment
Pearson’s r groups?
Correlation

Two groups
More than two
groups
Parametric assumptions Parametric asssumptions
satisfied? satisfied?
No No
Yes
Data transform worked?
Data transform worked?
Yes No
Parametric Nonparametric
Yes No
Student’s unpaired t-test, Mann-Whitney U or Yes
Paired t-test Wilcoxon Rank sums test

If significant, do a Parametric Nonparametric

post hoc test, e.g.
Tukey’s or Bonferroni’s ANOVA Kruskal-Wallis Test

If significant, do a
Dunn’s Test