THE WILCOXON RANK-SUM

TEST OR WILCOXON TWO-

SAMPLE TEST
U 1=W1-n1(n1+1)
2
U2=W1-n1(n1+1)
Where:
2
U1=Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test
W1=sum of ranks of group 1
n1=sample size of group 1
U2=Wilcoxon Rank-Sum Test
W2=sum of rank of group 2
M2=sample size of group 2
Example: of the eighteen selected patients who reached as advanced stage of leukemia were reached
with a new serum and eight were none. The survival time, in years, was reckoned from the time the
experiment was conducted. Using the Wilcoxon rank-sum test at a .05 to test whether the serum is
effective, consider the following data
Treatment 2.9 3.1 5.3 4.2 4.5 3.9 2.0 3.7 1.7 4.1 4.0
No Treatment 1.9 .5 .9 11 11 18 17 15
Solving by the Stepwise Method:

I. Problem: is the new serum effective in treating leukemia?

II. Hypothesis:
Ho: The new is serum not effective.
H1: the new serum is effective
III. Level of significance:
a= .05 H2=8
df= H1=10
U=17
IV. Statistics:
U-test, Wilcoxon rank sum-test
Computation: arrange the data of both group from the lowest to
the highest value and rank them. The sum of the ranks with
treatment will be W1, likewise the sum of ranks without
treatments will be W2.
With Treatment Rank No Treatment Rank
2.9 9 1.9 4
3.1 10.50.5 1
5.3 18 0.9 2
4.2 16 2.2 7
4.5 17 3.1 10.5
3.9 13 2.0 5.5
2.0 5.51.7 3
3.3 12 2.5 ___8___
4.1 15 4.0 W2=41
___14___
W1=130
Ranking the data from the lowest to the highest form

No. Observation from both groups Rank

1 .5 1
2 .9 2
3 1.7 3
4 1.9 4
5 2.0 5.5
6 2.0 5.5
7 2.2 7
8 2.5 8
9 2.9 9
10 3.1 10.5
11 3.1 10.5
12 3.7 12
13 3.9 13
14 4.0 14
15 4.1 15
16 4.2 16
17 4.5 17
18 5.3 18
U1=W1-(n1+1)
2
=130-10(10+1)
2
=130-110
2
=130-55
N=75

W1=W2-n1(n2+1)
2
=41-8(8+1)
2
=41-72
2
=41-36
W1=5
Example 2: the nicotine content of two brands of cigarettes, measured in milligrams,
are as follows:
________________________________________________________
Brand X 4,1,0,7,3,1,2,5,4,0,6,2
Brand Y 2,1,4,0,5,4,4,8,3,3,1,6,1,7,5,4
Test the hypothesis at 0.5 level of significance, that the average nicotine contents of
the two brands are equal
Solving Stepwise Method:

I. Problem: is there a significant difference in the average nicotine content of the two brands of
cigarettes?
II. Hypothesis:
Ho: there is no significant difference in the average nicotine content of the two brands of
cigarettes?
H1:there is a significant difference in the average nicotine content of the two brands of cigarettes.
III. Level of Significance:
a=0.5
df=n1=6
U=8
n2=8
IV.
U2=W2-n2(n2+1)
2
=60.5-8(8+1)
2
=60.5-72
2
=60.5-36
U2=24.5
V. Decision Rule : select the smaller value between U1 and U2 and compare it with the tabular value.
If the U computed value is lesser than the U tabular value, reject Ho.
VI. Conclusion: since the U1 computed value of 23.5 is greater than the U-tabular value of 8, at .05
level of significance with n1=6 and n1=8 degrees of freedom, the null hypothesis is confirmed which
means that there is no significance difference in an average nicotine content of the two brands of
cigarettes