T-Test Loretta Kunch Capella University Master of Psychology Summer 2009

Problem Statement A total of 88 male/female adults were in the dataset comparing IQ scores. The datasets were generated from the course SPSS database. The measurement scales include Histogram, Q-Q plot, Box Plot, T-test, W test, and Levene's test comparisons. Each graph illustrates the dataset in visually, easily to understand, relationships between the data variables. The data assumes that there is a relationship between the IQ, and the male/female datasets. This data does not identify age, education levels, or prerequisite data. Comparing specific age groups, academic levels and prerequisites provides a sound population sample to measure. Outliers include sample population that falls outside of the age, education level, and background of candidates. For example, scoring a 21year old Academic honors student with an elderly person who has been void of academics for decades or inner-city versus suburban datasets can produce outliers that may skew results. The key is to measure the same demographics. The graphs illustrate a positive correlation between IQ and Gender. Specifically, the male subjects score higher in proportion to IQ over the females. Does this measure accurately identify data from within the same age group, academic level, and demographics? I would advance the position that it does not. The null hypothesis attempts to show that no variation exists between variables or does so by chance. In this instance, although IQ and Gender illustrate the variation between both male and female samples illustrates a variance. Specifically, the same numbers of male and female subjects were not measured. Alpha is the probability of making a Type I error (rejecting the null hypothesis when the null hypothesis is true). The alpha level is defined as the probability of what is called a Type I error in statistics. That is the probability of rejecting H0 when in fact it was true. Now, why should we select an alpha level of .05? If we are really worried about the possibility that we will reject H0 when it is true, then why don't we use a smaller alpha level like .01 or even .001? That would minimize the change that we would incorrectly reject H0. The thing is that there is another error we could make (called a Type II error). That is the error of not rejecting H0 when it is false. If you think about it, the stricter the criterion you set for rejecting H0 (i.e., the smaller the alpha level), the more likely it is that there will be cases where we should reject H0, but we don't. The exact probability of a Type II error (failing to reject H0 when it is actually false) cannot be determined just from the alpha level. There is other information you need (which is not important here). The main thing is that as you set a more stringent (smaller) alpha level, like .01 or .001, (which decreases the probability of making a Type I error) you increase the likelihood of making a Type II error. Past experience has suggested that an alpha level of .05 is a good compromise between the likelihoods of making Type I and Type II errors (Thorndyke, E.L., 2009). The t-test assesses whether the means of two groups are statistically different from each other. This analysis is appropriate whenever you want to compare the means of two groups (Trochim,2009). The ShapiroWilk test tests the null hypothesis that a sample came from a normally distributed population. Levene's test is an inferential statistic used to assess the equality of variance in different samples (Levene, 1960). In this example, the dataset reveals that the T-Test Scores, W-Test, and Levens Test suggests normality among the dataset from the 2 means in independent samples. Assumption of Equal Variance is met by the score of .959 which is significant in being above the .05

cut-off. The T-Test for Equality if Means scores -.870 indicating a significant difference exists between the male/female datasets comparing IQ scores. When two samples are taken from the same population it is very unlikely that the means of the two samples will be identical. When two samples are taken from two populations with very different means values, it is likely that the means of the two samples will differ (Fadem, 2008). Assumptions: -The dependent variable is normally distributed. -The two groups have approximately equal variance on the dependent variable. -The two groups are independent of one another. Hypotheses: Null: The means of the two groups are not significantly different. Alternate: The means of the two groups are significantly different

Results

Gender
Case Processing Summary Cases Valid gender iq Male female N 55 33 Percent 100.0% 100.0% N 0 0 Missing Percent .0% .0% N 55 33 Total Percent 100.0% 100.0%

Descriptives gender iq Male Mean 95% Confidence Interval for Mean 5% Trimmed Mean Median Variance Std. Deviation Minimum Lower Bound Upper Bound Statistic 99.33 95.76 102.89 98.79 99.00 174.039 13.192 75 Std. Error 1.779

Maximum Range Interquartile Range Skewness Kurtosis female Mean 95% Confidence Interval for Mean 5% Trimmed Mean Median Variance Std. Deviation Minimum Maximum Range Interquartile Range Skewness Kurtosis Lower Bound Upper Bound

137 62 20 .451 .224 101.82 97.32 106.31 101.41 100.00 160.716 12.677 83 128 45 20 .354 -.731 .409 .798 .322 .634 2.207

Tests of Normality Kolmogorov-Smirnov gender Statistic df

a

Shapiro-Wilk Statistic df Sig.

Sig.

iq

Male female

.079 .101

55 33

.200 .200

.972 .960

55 33

.235 .261

T-Test

Group Statistics gender iq Male female N 55 33 Mean 99.33 101.82 Std. Deviation 13.192 12.677 Std. Error Mean 1.779 2.207

Independent Samples Test Levene's Test for Equality of Variances F iq Equal variances assumed Equal variances not assumed .003 Sig. .959 t-test for Equality of Means t -.870 -.879 df 86 69.665

Independent Samples Test t-test for Equality of Means Std. Error Sig. (2-tailed) iq Equal variances assumed Equal variances not assumed .387 .383 Mean Difference -2.491 -2.491 Difference 2.863 2.835

Independent Samples Test t-test for Equality of Means 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Lower iq Equal variances assumed Equal variances not assumed -8.183 -8.145 Upper 3.201 3.163

References Trochim, W.(2009). The t-test. Retrieved May 31, 2009 from, http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/stat_t.php Thorndyke, E.L.(2009). Alpha Levels. Retrieved May 14, 2009 from, http://homepage.psy.utexas.edu/homepage/Faculty/Markman/PSY418/Questions/alpha.html Levene, H. (1960). "Robust tests for equality of variances". in Ingram Olkin, Harold Hotelling et al. Contributions to Probability and Statistics: Essays in Honor of Harold Hotelling. Stanford University Press. pp. 278-292. Fadem, B. (2008). High-Yield Behavioral Science (High-Yield Series). Hagerstwon, MD: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. ISBN 0-7817-8258-9.