Inferential Statistics

Making generalizations
and predicting significance
in differences of
characteristics or
relationships among
research variables
 Inferential Statistics
It allows you to make
predictions (“inferences”) from
that data. With inferential
statistics, you take data from
samples and make
generalizations about a
population.
Inferential Statistic
Example:

You might stand in a mall and ask a sample

of 100 people if they like shopping at Gaisano
Mall. You could make a bar chart of yes or no
answers (that would be descriptive statistics)
or you could use your research (and inferential
statistics) to reason that around 75-80% of the
population (all shoppers in all malls) like
shopping at Sears.
 There are two main areas of
inferential statistics:
1. Estimating parameters. This means taking a
statistic from your sample data (for example the
sample mean) and using it to say something
about a population parameter (i.e. the population
mean).

2. Hypothesis tests. This is where you can use

sample data to answer research questions. For
example, you might be interested in knowing if a
new cancer drug is effective. Or if breakfast helps
children perform better in schools.
Two Types
of
Techniques
1. Parametric
Technique

2. Non-Parametric
Technique
 Parametric Technique
makes various assumptions about
the nature of the population from
which the sample for study is
drawn

capable of determining the actual

difference or relationship in the
study
Non-Parametric Technique
makes few, if any,
assumptions about the nature of
the population

useful in measurements of nominal

and ordinal data
cannot determine the relationships
in a study
Commonly Employed
Parametric Tests in
Inferring Quantitative
Data
1. t-test
2. One-Way Analysis of Variance (1-
Way ANOVA)
3. Two-Way Analysis of Variance (2-Way
ANOVA)
4. Multiple Analysis of
Variance (MANOVA)
5. Duncan’s Multiple Range
Test
6. Scheffe Test
 t-Test
used to establish the significance of the
difference between the means of two
samples

the test results to a t-value, which is

checked against a statistical table
 t-Test
 The t-test for INDEPENDENT MEANS
compares the mean scores of two different
or independent groups

 The t-test for CORRELATED MEANS

compares the mean scores of the same
group before and after a treatment is given
or the mean scores of the same group with
different treatments
example. . .
t-test for INDEPENDENT
MEANS
In comparing the water resistance
capabilities of two groups of insulating
board substrates, namely the coconut
shell-wood resin composite and the
coconut bark-wood resin composite, the
respective means of water resistance
values for the two composite groups
were compared and the significance of
their difference in the said test variable
was determined .
t-test for INDEPENDENT MEANS
is useful for the following
reasons
• There were only two means of
independent variables compared

• The two mean sources are

independent from each other as
to characteristics
example. . .
t-test for CORRELATED
MEANS
A study compared the initial and final
effluent values of the wastewater that
underwent a pilot treatment process in terms
of dissolved solids. The mean value of the
initial dissolved solids before and after the
wastewater underwent treatment process
were measured. The of
effectivenessprocess was based the on
treatment
significance of the themea
difference
values in the solids present n in
of dissolved
wastewater before and after the
 t-test for CORRELATED MEANS
is useful for the following reasons

• There were only two means of

independent variables compared

• The two mean sources are from

the same wastewater reservoir
and have been measured before
and after the treatment process
One-Way Analysis of Variance
(1-Way ANOVA)
 Useful when the researcher wants to
determine the significant differences
among the means of more than two
groups
 Appropriate to use with three or more
groups
 The variable both within and between each
of the group is analyzed to establish the F
value
 Also used when more than one
 example. .
. A study was conducted to compare the
effect of hot water treatment on the shelf life of
newly harvested mangoes. The mangoes were
grouped into five (5), initially weighed and then
immersed in 60°C hot water for 1minute,
2minutes, 3min, 4min and 5min respectively.
They were stored properly and weights were
monitored daily for one week and collated this
establishing the weights for the group. This is to
predict the effectiveness of the varying exposure
time of newly harvested mangoes to hot water
in order to increase the shelf life.
 the 1-Way ANOVA is useful
for the following reasons

• There were more than two means as

independent variables compared; i.e.
means of final weights from treatment
groups immersed in hot water for 1min,
2min, 3min, 4min and 5minutes.
• There only one
variable
wasinvolved, i.e. the time exposure
independent
of newly harvested mangoes to hot
water
Two-Way Analysis of Variance
(2-Way ANOVA)

A special test for factorial

ANOVA; that is, it determines
the main and simultaneous
effects of two independent
factors on one or more
dependent variables.
 example. .
. In the study “ Effects of Varying Levels of
Oyster Shell Grits and Particle Size on the Growth
and Breaking Strength of Metatarsal Bones of
Broilers”, the simultaneous effect of the two
independent variables (1) level of oyster shell
grits and (2) particle sizes were determined in
terms of the mean growth , mean weight and
mean vertical compression. The significance of
differences in the growth, weight vertical
compression of the metatarsal bones of broilers
as affected by these independent variables were
determined using the 2-Way ANOVA.
 the 2-Way ANOVA is useful
for the following reasons
• There more than two means
independent
are asvariables compared; i.e.
five levels for the first independent
variable and three particle sizes for the
other independent variables
• There were two independent variables,
i.e. level of oyster shell grits and
particle sizes, whose effects on the
dependent variables of the study were
Multiple Analysis of Variance
(MANOVA)
 another factorial ANOVA; that
determines the simultaneous effects of
three or more independent variables on
one or more dependent variables
being studied
 when more than 2 groups are compared,
the F value can not identify which pairs of
means are significantly different
 a post hoc analysis is therefore required to
show significance
example. .
. In the study that determined the acute
toxicity and mid-lethal concentration (Ls50)

of
ammonia on nile tilapia fingerlings
when they are subjected to different
ammonia concentration, pH levels and time
exposure
 the MANOVA is useful
for the following reasons
• There were more than two means being
compared among the independent
variables; i.e. five concentration levels,
five pH levels and four exposure periods

• There were three independent variables,

i.e. concentration levels, pH levels and
exposure periods, whose effects in the
acute toxicity and mid-lethal
concentration (Ls50) of ammonia on nile
tilapia fingerlings were determined
Duncan’s Multiple Range Test

a post hoc multiple comparison test

that is employed when the ANOVA test
showed significance

makes a stepwise and pair-wise

comparison that will determine which
of the given means differ
 Scheffe Test

another post hoc multiple comparison

test that is employed when the ANOVA
test showed significance

performs simultaneous joint pair-wise

comparison for all possible pair-wise
combination of means
 Pearson Product-Moment
Correlation
 used to determine the co-variation
between two variables in the study
 result of test may establish if the
correlation is a positive or negative
 if the results show that the test organisms
responds highly in one variable and also
responds in the same way in another, then
the correlation is positive, otherwise the
correlation is negative
Commonly Employed
NON-Parametric Tests
in Inferring
Quantitative Data
• Chi-Square Test
• Wilcoxon Signed-
Rank Test
• Friedman’s Test
 Chi-Square Test

tabulates a given variable into

categories

compares an observed and expected

frequencies in each given category to
test either that all categories contain
the same proportion of values or that
each given category contains a user-
specified proportion of values
 Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test

used with two related variables to

the hypothesis test
that the two variables
distribution,
have thetaking
same into account
information about the magnitude of
differences within pairs
gives more weight to pairs that show
large differences than to pairs that
show small ones
 Friedman’s Test

an equivalent to the two-way analysis

of variance with one observation for
every cell

thus tests the hypothesis that k related

variables come from the same
population
 Level of Significance in
Inferential Statistical Testing
 this should be established
before running the actual test
 any result that has a significant level of 0.05
or less is considered an indication of
unlikely accepting the null hypothesis
 fixes the probability of rejecting the null
hypothesis only 5 times in 100 sets of
replicated experiments
 the probability of achieving an error of
rejecting the null hypothesis is 5%