T- TEST
What Is a T-Test?
A t-test is an inferential statistic used to determine if there is a significant difference
between the means of two groups and how they are related. T-tests are used when the
data sets follow a normal distribution and have unknown variances. The t-test is used
for hypothesis testing in statistics and uses the t-statistic, the t-distribution values,
and the degrees of freedom to determine statistical significance.
Types of t-tests
A t-test is a hypothesis test of the mean of one or two normally distributed populations.
Several types of t-tests exist for different situations, but they all use a test statistic that
follows a t-distribution under the null hypothesis:
If the groups come from a single population (e.g., measuring before and after an
experimental treatment), perform a paired t test. This is a within-subjects design.
If the groups come from two different populations (e.g., two different species, or
people from two separate cities), perform a two-sample t-
test (a.k.a. independent t-test). This is a between-subjects design.
If one group is being compared against a standard value (e.g., comparing the
acidity of a liquid to a neutral pH of 7), perform a one-sample t-test.
Performing a t test
One Sample T-Test for testing means
The hypotheses are:
Null hypothesis: 𝐻0 : 𝜇 = µ0 The population mean (μ) equals the hypothesized mean
(µ0 ). Alternative hypothesis H1: μ ≠ µ0 . The population mean (μ) differs from the
hypothesized mean (µ0)
𝑋̅ − 𝜇
𝑡= 𝑠
√𝑛
with d.f ( degree of freedom ) = n – 1
∑(𝑥 − ̅̅̅
𝑥)2
𝑆=√
(𝑛 − 1)
Example The following data represents hemoglobin values in gm/dl for 10 patients:
Is the mean value for patients significantly differ from the mean value of general
population (12 gm/dl)? Evaluate the role of chance. ( = 0.05 )
Solution
Mention all steps of testing hypothesis.
First, we must compute the mean (or average) of this sample:
𝑥̅
̅̅̅2
∑(𝑥−𝑥) 722.4025
𝑆=√ =√ = 1.802005
(𝑛−1) 9
𝑋̅ − 𝜇 8.95 − 12
𝑡= 𝑠 = = −5.35234
1.802002
√𝑛 √10
Then compare with tabulated value, for 9 df, and 5% level of significance.
It is = 2.262, the calculated value>tabulated value.
Reject Ho and conclude that there is a statistically significant difference between the
mean of the sample and the population mean, and this difference is unlikely due to
chance.
Independent samples t- test
The characteristic feature of independent samples is that they represent independent
random samples from their respective populations. For example, in testing the effects of
a new drug, an investigator may assign individuals at random to the treatment group
and the control group. Observations made on individuals in the treatment group are
independent of those made on individuals in the control group. For independent
samples, the number of individuals in the two samples need not be the same. The value
for t is given by:
𝑥̅1 − 𝑥̅2
𝑡=
𝑠1 2 𝑠2 2
√ +
𝑛1 𝑛2
The paired t – test
For the paired case, pairs are randomly selected from a single population. Each
member of a pair is randomly assigned to one of the two treatments. The null
hypothesis is that the mean different among pairs is zero. Example of pairing
observation is the before and after measurements on the same individuals.
𝑥̅𝑑
𝑡= 𝑠
√𝑛
THE T-DISTRIBUTION TABLE
