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Understanding the Student's t-Test

The t test compares the means of two groups to determine if they are statistically significantly different from each other. It has several steps: 1) organize the raw data from each group into columns, 2) calculate the mean of each group, 3) calculate the deviation of each score from its group mean and square it, 4) sum the squared deviations for each group, 5) calculate the variance for each group, 6) use the formula to calculate t, and 7) check the calculated t value against a probability table to determine significance based on degrees of freedom. The example problem compares scores on a cognitive test between participants who slept for 4 hours versus 8 hours, calculating t and finding the difference was not statistically significant.

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Daniel Nacorda
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313 views9 pages

Understanding the Student's t-Test

The t test compares the means of two groups to determine if they are statistically significantly different from each other. It has several steps: 1) organize the raw data from each group into columns, 2) calculate the mean of each group, 3) calculate the deviation of each score from its group mean and square it, 4) sum the squared deviations for each group, 5) calculate the variance for each group, 6) use the formula to calculate t, and 7) check the calculated t value against a probability table to determine significance based on degrees of freedom. The example problem compares scores on a cognitive test between participants who slept for 4 hours versus 8 hours, calculating t and finding the difference was not statistically significant.

Uploaded by

Daniel Nacorda
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

t – test

Chapter 4 – 1
Definition:
• The t test (also called Student’s T Test)
compares two averages (means) and tells
you if they are different from each other.
The t test also tells you how significant the
differences are; In other words it lets you
know if those differences could have
happened by chance.

Chapter 4 – 2
Chapter 4 – 3
Steps:
• Create four columns: "x", "(x-Mx)2", "y", "(y-My)2"
• Put the raw data for group X in column x, and for group Y in column y
• Calculate the mean for both groups
• Calculate deviation scores for each group by subtracting each score
from it's group mean and squaring it and put these in the columns "(x-
Mx)2" and "(y-My)2"
• Sum the squared deviation scores for each group
• Calculate S2 for each group
• Set up formula
• Calculate t
• Check to see if t is statistically significant on probability table
with df = N-2 (N = total number of scores)

Chapter 4 – 4
Example:
• Problem: Sam Sleepresearcher hypothesizes that people
who are allowed to sleep for only four hours will score
significantly lower than people who are allowed to sleep
for eight hours on a cognitive skills test. He brings sixteen
participants into his sleep lab and randomly assigns them
to one of two groups. In one group he has participants
sleep for eight hours and in the other group he has them
sleep for four. The next morning he administers the SCAT
(Sam's Cognitive Ability Test) to all participants. (Scores
on the SCAT range from 1-9 with high scores representing
better performance).

Chapter 4 – 5
Sam’s Cognitive Activity Test
8 hours sleep
group (X) 5 7 5 3 5 3 3 9

8 hours sleep
group (Y) 8 1 4 6 6 4 1 2

Chapter 4 – 6
x (x-Mx) (x-Mx)2 y (x-My) (y - My)2
5 0 0 8 4 16
7 2 4 1 -3 9
5 0 0 4 0 0
3 -2 4 6 2 4
5 0 0 6 2 4
3 -2 4 4 0 0
3 -2 4 1 -9 9
9 4 16 2 -2 4
S(x-Mx)2 S(y-My)2
Sx=40 Sy=32
=32 =46
Mx=5 My=4

Chapter 4 – 7
Solve for t:

*(according to the t sig/probability


table with df = 14, t must be at least 2.145
to reach p < .05, so this difference
is not statistically significant)
Chapter 4 – 8
QUIZ: Use ½ Yellow Pad

Chapter 4 – 9

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