SW388R6

T-Test
Data Analysis
and Computers I

Slide 1
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Independent Samples T-Test: Purpose

Data Analysis
and Computers I

Slide 2

 Purpose: test whether or not the populations

represented by the two samples have a different
mean
 Independent Sample t-test measures the significance
difference in the means of the Two categories
/variables/Groups..
 Examples:
 Whether there is a significant difference in the satisfaction
level of consumers using Prepaid and Post Paid Packaging…
Here we have Package in two subcategories as a variable
and Test Variable is Satisfaction Level.
 Social work students have higher GPA’s than nursing
students
 Social work students volunteer for more hours per week
than education majors
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Assumptions
Data Analysis
and Computers I

Slide 3

 Level Of Measurement
 Independent sample t-test assume that grouping variable or
categorical variable should be measured on Nominal Scale
whereas Test variable should be measured on interval or
Ratio Scale. This is LOM for this Test.
 Normality:
 The test variable should be Normal or Homogeneous. In order to
check the homogeneity, Independent Sample t-test has
Levene’s Test.
 If Test variable is abnormal or Heterogeneous then we can not
proceed to independent sample t-test rather we have to switch
for Non-Parametric alternate to independent Sample t-test i.e.
Mann Whitney test etc.
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Data Analysis Solving the problem with SPSS:
Evaluating normality - 3
and Computers I

Slide 4

First, in addition
to the statistics,
SPSS has checked
by default, mark
the Kurtosis and
Skewness check
boxes on the Second, click on the
Distribution panel. Continue button to
close the dialog box.
 SW388R6
Data Analysis Solving the problem with SPSS:
Evaluating normality - 4
and Computers I

Slide 5

Click on the OK
button to obtain
the output.
 SW388R6
Data Analysis Solving the problem with SPSS:
Evaluating normality - 5
and Computers I

Slide 6

"Highest year of school completed"

[educ] did not satisfy the criteria for a
normal distribution. The skewness of the
distribution (-.137) was between -1.0
and +1.0, but the kurtosis of the
distribution (1.246) fell outside the
range from -1.0 to +1.0.

Having failed the normality requirement

using this criteria, we will see if we can
apply the central limit theorem.
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Data Analysis Solving the problem with SPSS:
The independent-samples t-test - 1
and Computers I

Slide 7

The number of cases in

each group is part of the
output for the independent
samples t-test, so we will
go ahead and compute that
test to continue addressing
the issue of normality.

Select Compare Means

> Independent-
Samples T Test… from
the Analyze menu.
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Data Analysis Solving the problem with SPSS:
The independent-samples t-test - 2
and Computers I

Slide 8

First, move the

dependent variable educ
to the Test Variable(s)
list box.

Second, move the

independent variable
wkgovt to the Grouping
Variable text box.

Note that SPSS lists two

question marks after the
variable name and activates
the Define Groups… button
as its clue for what it wants
us to do next. Click on the
Define Groups button.
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Data Analysis Solving the problem with SPSS:
The independent-samples t-test - 3
and Computers I

Slide 9

First, type in the

numeric codes for the
groups in the wkgovt
variable that we looked
up at the beginning of
the problem.

Second, click on the

Continue button to
close the dialog box.
 SW388R6
Data Analysis Solving the problem with SPSS:
The independent-samples t-test - 4
and Computers I

Slide 10

Click on the OK
button to close
the dialog box.

Note that SPSS has

replaced the question
marks after the variable
name with the numeric
codes we typed in.
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Data Analysis Solving the problem with SPSS: Evaluating
normality with the central limit theorem - 6
and Computers I

Slide 11

Since survey respondents who were employed by

the federal, state, or local government had 38
cases and survey respondents who were employed
by a private employer had 217 cases, the
assumption of normality was satisfied by the
Central Limit Theorem which required both groups
to have 30 or more cases.

If we are unable to establish

normality either by the
distribution or by the central
limit theorem, the t-test would
not be an appropriate statistic.
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Data Analysis Solving the problem with SPSS:
Evaluating equality of group variances - 1
and Computers I

Slide 12

The independent-samples t-test assumes that the variances of the

dependent variable for both groups are equal in the population. This
assumption is evaluated with Levene's Test for Equality of Variances.
The null hypothesis for this test states that the variance for both groups
are equal. The desired outcome for this test is to fail to reject the null
hypothesis, which demonstrates equality.

The probability associated with Levene's Test for Equality of Variances

(.161) is greater than alpha (.05), indicating that the 'Equal variances
assumed' formula for the independent samples t-test should be used for
the analysis.
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Data Analysis Solving the problem with SPSS:
Evaluating equality of group variances - 2
and Computers I

Slide 13

Since we failed to reject the hypothesis for Levene’s

test, the 'Equal variances assumed' formula for the
independent samples t-test should be used for the
analysis.

Had the probability associated with Levene’s test

been less than the alpha level, we would have used
the statistics for the ‘Equal variances not assumed’
row in the table.
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Data Analysis Solving the problem with SPSS:
Answering the question - 1
and Computers I

Slide 14

The finding we are trying to verify is:

Survey respondents who were employed by
the federal, state, or local government
completed significantly more years of school
(M = 13.97, SD = 3.27) than survey
respondents who were employed by a private
employer (M = 13.07, SD = 2.84) .

Our first task is to make certain we have

solved the right problem.

Second, we verify that

the mean and standard
First, we check to deviations for the
make certain we have groups match the
the correct groups in problem statement.
the output.
 SW388R6
Data Analysis Solving the problem with SPSS:
Answering the question - 2
and Computers I

Slide 15

The finding we are trying to verify is:

Survey respondents who were employed by the federal, state,
or local government completed significantly more years of
school (M = 13.97, SD = 3.27) than survey respondents who
were employed by a private employer (M = 13.07, SD =
2.84) .

Since the problem states that the mean for one group is
significantly higher than the mean of the other group, the
research hypothesis is a one-tailed test.

We divide the SPSS 2-tailed significance (.080) in half and

make our decision about the null hypothesis by comparing p = .
04 to alpha = .05.
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Data Analysis Solving the problem with SPSS:
Answering the question – 3
and Computers I

Slide 16

The answer to the question is True.

We can include the t-test results in our statement of the

finding:

Survey respondents who were employed by the federal,

state, or local government completed significantly more
years of school (M = 13.97, SD = 3.27) than survey
respondents who were employed by a private employer (M
= 13.07, SD = 2.84) , t(255) = 1.761, p = .04 (one-tailed).
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Data Analysis
and Computers I

Slide 17
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Data Analysis Independent Samples T-Test
Practice Problem 3
and Computers I

Slide 18

This question can be answered using an independent

samples t-test because [sex] is dichotomous level,
satisfying the requirement for the independent variable.

The dependent variable in the t-test is required to be

interval level and [rincom98] is ordinal level. However,
we can fall back on the convention of using ordinal
variables with interval level statistics, and add a caution
to any true findings.
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Independent Samples T-Test in SPSS (1)

Data Analysis
and Computers I

Slide 19

The independent samples t-test assumes

that the dependent variable is normally
distributed. To test this assumption, we
will check the skewness and kurtosis for
[rincom88].

Select Analyze > Descriptive

Statistics > Descriptives…
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Independent Samples T-Test in SPSS (2)

Data Analysis
and Computers I

Slide 20

Move the dependent variable

[rincom98] to the list box of
Variable(s).

Click on the Options button to

select statistics.
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Independent Samples T-Test in SPSS (3)

Data Analysis
and Computers I

Slide 21

Make certain the check boxes

for Kurtosis and Skewness are
checked.

Click on the Continue button to

close the dialog box.
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Independent Samples T-Test in SPSS (4)

Data Analysis
and Computers I

Slide 22

[rincom98] satisfied the criteria for a normal distribution.

The skewness of the distribution (-.690) was between -1.0

and +1.0 and the kurtosis of the distribution (-.245) was
between -1.0 and +1.0.
 SW388R6

Independent Samples T-Test in SPSS (5)

Data Analysis
and Computers I

Slide 23

This problem can be solved using an

independent samples t-test in SPSS. In
order to conduct it, go to:

Analyze > Compare Means >

Independent-Samples T Test…
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Independent Samples T-Test in SPSS (6)

Data Analysis
and Computers I

Slide 24

Select and move [rincom98] to

Test Variable(s): box and make
sure [sex] is still in the Grouping
Variable: box and the code
numbers for sex are entered.

Then, click OK.

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Independent Samples T-Test in SPSS (7)

Data Analysis
and Computers I

Slide 25

The probability associated

with Levene's Test for
Equality of Variances (.487) is
greater than the level of
significance (0.05), indicating
that the 'Equal variances
assumed' formula for the
independent samples t-test
should be used for the
analysis.
 SW388R6

Independent Samples T-Test in SPSS (8)

Data Analysis
and Computers I

Slide 26

The research hypothesis that the average "income"

[rincom98] for survey respondents who were male is higher
than the average for survey respondents who were female,
is a one-tailed directional test. The SPSS 2-tailed
significance is divided in half (.000 / 2 =0.0000).

Since the probability of the t statistic (t=4.691) was

p<0.0001, less than or equal to the alpha of 0.05, the null
hypothesis of equal means was rejected and the research
hypothesis was supported.

When SPSS prints out a

probability of 0.000, the
number is not equal to
zero, but contains
zeroes in the first three
decimal places. We will
correct this by stating it
as p<0.001.
 SW388R6

Independent Samples T-Test in SPSS (9)

Data Analysis
and Computers I

Slide 27

To make certain that the relationship stated in the research

hypothesis is correct, we compare the means of the two groups to
verify that the direction is correctly stated.

The research hypothesis stated that males had higher salaries. The
mean for males (15.16) is higher than the mean for females
(12.68). The comparison is correctly stated in the question.

The answer to the problem is true with caution, including the

caution because the dependent variable was ordinal.