1 Chapter 5: Comparing two means using the t-test

Chapter 5: Chapter 5:
COMPARIING TWO MEANS USIING THE T--TEST COMPAR NG TWO MEANS US NG THE T TEST

Upon completion of this chapter, you should be able to:

explain what is the t-Test and its use in hypothesis testing demonstrate using the t-Test for INDEPENDENT MEANS identify the assumptions for using the t-test demonstrate the use of the t-Test for DEPENDENT MEANS

CHAPTER OVERVIEW

What is the t-test? The hypothesis tested using the ttest Using the t-test for independent means Assumptions that must be observed when using the t-test Summary Key Terms References

Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Descriptive Statistics Chapter 3: The Normal Distribution Chapter 4: Hypothesis Testing Chapter 5: T-test Chapter 6: Oneway Analysis of Variance Chapter 7: Correlation Chapter 8: Chi-Square

This chapter introduces you to the t-test which is statistical tool used to test the significant differences between the means of two groups. The independent t-test is used when the means of two groups when the sample is drawn from two different or independent samples. The dependent or pairwise t-test is used when the sample is tested twice the means are compared.

2 Chapter 5: Comparing two means using the t-test What is the T-Test?

The t-test was developed by a statistician, W.S. Gossett (1878-1937) who worked in a brewery in Dublin, Ireland. His pen name was student and hence the term students t-test which was published in the scientific journal, Biometrika in 1908. The t-test is a statistical tool used to infer differences between small samples based on the mean and standard deviation. In many educational studies, the researcher is interested in testing the differences between means on some variable. The researcher is keen to determine whether the differences observed between two samples represents a real difference between the populations from which the samples were drawn. In other words, did the observed difference just happen by chance when, in reality, the two populations do not differ at all on the variable studies.

or example, a teacher wanted to find out whether the Discovery method of teaching science to primary school children was more effective than the Lecture method. She conducted an experiment among 70 primary school children of which 35 pupils were taught using the Discovery method and 35 children were taught using the Lecture method. The results of the study showed that subjects in the Discovery group scored 43.0 marks while subjects in the Lecture method group score 38.0 marks on a the science test. Yes, the Discovery group did better than the Lecture group. Does the difference between the two groups represent a real difference or was it due to chance? To answer this question, the t-test is often used by researchers.

3 Chapter 5: Comparing two means using the t-test The Hypothesis Tested Using the T-Test

How do we go about establishing whether the differences in the two means are statistically significant or due to chance? You begin by formulating a hypothesis about the difference. This hypothesis states that the two means are equal or the difference between the two means is zero and is called the null hypothesis. Using the null hypothesis, you begin testing the significance by saying: "There is no difference in the score obtained in science between subjects in the Discovery group and the Lecture group". More commonly the null hypothesis may be stated as follows:

a) Ho : U1 = U2 b) Ho : U1 U2

= 0

which translates into which translate into

43.0 = 38.0 43.0 38.0 = 0

If you reject the null hypothesis, it means that the difference between the two means have statistical significance If you do not reject the null hypothesis, it means that the difference between the two means are NOT statistically significant and the difference is due to chance.

Note: For a null hypothesis to be accepted, the difference between the two means need not be equal to zero since sampling may account for the departure from zero. Thus, you can accept the null hypothesis even if the difference between the two means is not zero provided the difference is likely to be due to chance. However, if the difference between the two means appears too large to have been brought about by chance, you reject the null hypothesis and conclude that a real difference exists.

LEARNING ACTIVITY a) State TWO null hypothesis in your area of interest that can be tested using the t-test. b) What do you mean when you reject or do not reject the null hypothesis?

4 Chapter 5: Comparing two means using the t-test

Using the T-Test for INDEPEDENT MEANS

The t-test is a powerful statistic that enables you to determine that the differences obtained between two groups is statistically significant. When two groups are INDEPENDENT of each other; it means that the sample drawn came from two populations. Other words used to mean that the two groups are independent are "unpaired" groups and "unpooled groups.

a) What is meant by Independent Means or Unpaired Means? Say for example you conduct a study to determine the spatial reasoning ability of 70 ten-year old children in Malaysia. The sample consisted of 35 males and 35 females. See figure 5.1. The sample of 35 males was drawn from the population of ten year old males in Malaysia and the sample of 35 females was drawn from the population of ten year olds females in Malaysia. Note that they are independent samples because they come from two completely different populations.

Population of ten year old MALES in Malaysia

Population of ten year old FEMALES in Malaysia

Sample of 35 MALES

Sample of 35 FEMALES

Figure 5.1 Samples drawn from two independent populations

Research Question: "Is there a significant difference in spatial reasoning between male and female ten year old children?" Null Hypothesis or Ho: "There is no significant difference in spatial reasoning between male and female ten year old children"

5 Chapter 5: Comparing two means using the t-test

b) Formula for the Independent T-Test Note that the formula for the t-test shown below is a ratio. It is Group 1 mean (i.e. males) minus Group 2 mean (i.e. females) divided by the Standard Error multiplied by Group 1 mean minus Group 2 mean. The top part of the equation is the difference between the two means

The bottom part of the equation is the Standard Error (SE) which is a measure of the variability of dispersion of the scores.

Computation of the Standard Error Use the formula below. To compute the standard error (SE), you take the variance (i.e. standard deviation squared) for Group 1 and divide it by the number of subjects in that group minus "1". Do the same for Group 2. Than add these two values and take the square root.

This is the formula for the Standard Error:

Combine the two formulas and you get this version of the t-test formula:

6 Chapter 5: Comparing two means using the t-test

b) Example: The results of the study are as follow:

Let's try using the formula:

12 -10

2
4.0 2

4.0 1 (35-1)

0.1177 + 0.1177

(35-1)

------------0.485

4.124

Note: The t-value will be positive if the mean for Group I is larger or more than (>) the mean of Group 2 and negative if it is smaller or less than (<).

c) What do you do after computing the t-value? Once you compute the t-value (which is 4.124) you look up the t-value in The Student's t-test Probabilities or The Table of Critical Values for Students T-Test which tells us whether the ratio is large enough to say that the difference between the groups is significant. In other words the difference observed is not likely due to chance or sampling error. Alpha Level: As with any test of significance, you need to set the alpha level. In most educational and social research, the "rule of thumb" is to set the alpha level at .05. This means that 5% of the time (five times out of a hundred) you would find a statistically significant difference between the means even if there is none ("chance"). Degrees of Freedom: The t-test also requires that we determine the degrees of freedom (df) for the test. In the t-test, the degrees of freedom is the sum of the subjects or persons in both groups minus 2. Given the alpha level, the df, and the t-value, you look up in the Table (available as an appendix in the back of

7 Chapter 5: Comparing two means using the t-test

most statistics texts) to determine whether the t-value is large enough to be significant.

d) Look up in the Table of Critical Values for Student's t-test shown on the right: The df is 70 minus 2 = 68. You take the nearest df which is 70 and read the column for the two-tailed alpha of 0.050. See Table 5.1. The t-value you obtained is 4.124. The critical value shown is 1.677. Since, the t-values is greater than the critical value of 1.677, you Reject Ho and conclude that the difference between the means for the two groups is different. In other words, males scored significantly higher than females on the spatial reasoning test. However, you do not have to go through this tedious process, as statistical computer programs such as SPSS, provides the significance test results, saving you from looking them up in the Table of Critical Values.

Table 5. 1: Table of Critical Values for Student's t-test Tailed Two One df 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 100 0.683 0.681 0.679 0.679 0.678 0.678 0.677 0.677 0.674 1.310 1.303 1.299 1.296 1.294 1.292 1.291 1.290 1.282 1.697 1.684 1.676 1.671 1.667 1.664 1.662 1.660 1.645 2.042 2.021 2.009 2.000 1.994 1.990 1.987 1.984 1.960 2.457 2.423 2.403 2.390 2.381 2.374 2.368 2.364 2.326 2.750 2.704 2.678 2.660 2.648 2.639 2.632 2.626 2.576 0.250 0.500 0.100 0.200 0.050 0.100 0.025 0.050 0.010 0.020 0.005 0.010

8 Chapter 5: Comparing two means using the t-test

LEARNING ACTIVITY a) Would you reject Ho if you had set the alpha at 0.01 for a two-tailed test? b) When do you use the one-tailed test and two-tailed t-test?

Assumptions that Must be Observed when Using the T-Test

While the t-test has been described as a robust statistical tool, it is based on a model that makes several assumptions about the data that must be met prior to analysis. Unfortunately, students conducting research tend not to report whether their data meet the assumptions of the t-test. These assumptions need are be observed, because the accuracy of your interpretation of the data depends on whether assumptions are violated. The following are three main assumptions that are generic to all t-tests. Instrumentation (Scale of Measurement) The data that you collect for the dependent variable should be based on an instrument or scale that is continuous or ordinal. For example, scores that you obtain from a 5-point Likert scale; 1,2,3,4,5 or marks obtained in a mathematics test, the score obtained on an IQ test or the score obtained on an aptitude test. Random Sampling The sample of subjects should be randomly sampled from the population of interest. Normality The data come from a distribution that has one of those nice bell-shaped curves known as a normal distribution. Refer to Chapter 3: The Normal Distribution which provides both graphical and statistical methods for assessing normality of a sample or samples. Sample Size Fortunately, it has been shown that if the sample size is reasonably large, quite severe departures from normality do not seem to affect the

9 Chapter 5: Comparing two means using the t-test

conclusions reached. Then again what is a reasonable sample size? It has been argued that as long as you have enough people in each group (typically greater or equal to 30 cases) and the groups are close to equal in size, you can be confident that the t-test will be a good, strong tool for getting the correct conclusions. Statisticians say that the t-test is a "robust" test. Departure from normality is most serious when sample sizes are small. As sample sizes increase, the sampling distribution of the mean approaches a normal distribution regardless of the shape of the original population. Homogeneity of Variance. It has often been suggested by some researchers that homogeneity of variance or equality of variance is actually more important than the assumption of normality. In other words, are the standard deviations of the two groups pretty close to equal? Most statistical software packages provide a "test of equality of variances" along with the results of the t-test and the most common being Levene's test of homogeneity of variance (see Table 5.2).

Levene's Test of Equality of Variances

95% Confidence Interval

F Equal Variances Assumed Unequal Variances Assumed 3.39

Sig .080

t .848

d 20

Sign. Two-tail .047

Mean Std. Error Upper Difference Difference 1.00 1.18 -1.46

Lower 3.46

.848

16.70

.049

1.00

1.18

-1.49

3.40

Table 5.2 Levenes Test of Equality of Variances Begin by putting forward the null hypothesis that: "There are no significant differences between the variances of the two groups" and you set the significant level at .05.

10 Chapter 5: Comparing two means using the t-test

If the Levene statistic is significant, i.e. LESS than .05 level (p < .05), then the null hypothesis is:

REJECTED and one accepts the alternative hypothesis and conclude that the VARIANCES ARE UNEQUAL. [The unequal variances in the SPSS output is used] If the Levene statistic is not significant, i.e. MORE than .05 level (p > .05), then you DO NOT REJECT (or Accept) the null hypothesis and conclude that the VARIANCES ARE EQUAL. [The equal variances in the SPSS output is used]

The Levene test is robust in the face of departures from normality. The Levene's test is based on deviations from the group mean.

SPSS provides two options'; i.e. "homogeneity of variance assumed" and "homogeneity of variance not assumed" (see Table below). The Levene test is more robust in the face of non-normality than more traditional tests like Bartlett's test.

LEARNING ACTIVITY Refer to the table above. Based on the Levenes Test of Homogeneity of variance, what is your conclusion. Explain.

Lets examine an EXAMPLE: In the CoPs Project, an Inductive Reasoning scale consisting of 11 items was administered to 946 eighteen year. One of the research questions put forward is:

"Is there a significant difference between in inductive reasoning between male and female subjects"? To establish the statistical significance of the means of these two groups, the ttest was used. Using SPSS.

11 Chapter 5: Comparing two means using the t-test

THE SPSS STEPS to answer the Research Question.

SPSS PROCEDURES for the independent groups t-test:

1. Select the Analyze menu. 2. Click on Compare Means and then IndependentSamples T Test ....to open the Independent Samples T Test dialogue box. 3. Select the test variable(s). [i.e. Inductive Reasoning] and then click on the button to move the variables into the Test Variables(s): box Select the grouping variables [i.e. gender] and click on the button to move the variable into the Grouping Variable: box

4.

5. Click on the Define Groups ....command pushbutton to open the Define Groups sub-dialogue box. 6. In the Group 1: box, type the lowest value for the variable [i.e. 1 for 'males'], then tab. Enter the second value for the variables [i.e. 2 for 'females'] in the Group 2: box. 7. Click on Continue and then OK.

SPSS OUTPUTS: Output #1: The Group statistics table above reports that the mean values on the variable (inductive reasoning) for the two different groups (males and females). Here, we see that the 495 females in the sample scored 8.99 while the 451 males had a mean score of 7.95 on inductive reasoning. The standard deviation for the males is 3.46 while that for the females is 3.14. The scores for the females are less dispersed compared to the males.

12 Chapter 5: Comparing two means using the t-test

GROUP STATISTICS INDUCTIVE GENDER Male Female N 451 495 Mean 7.9512 8.9980 Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean 3.4618 3.1427 2.345 3.879

The question remains: Is this sample difference in inductive reasoning large enough to convince us that there it is a real significant difference in inductive reasoning ability between the population 18 year old females and the population of 18 year-old males? Output #2: Lets examine this output in two parts:

First is to determine that the data meet the "Homogeneity of Variance" assumption you can use the Levene's Test and set the alpha at 0.05. The alpha obtained is 0.054 which is greater (>) than 0.05 and you do not Reject the Ho: and conclude that the variances are equal. Hence, you have not violated the "Homogeneity of Variance" assumption.
Levene's Test of Equality of Variances F Equal Variances Assumed Unequal Variances Assumed Sig t -4.875 d 944 Sign. Two-tail .000 95% Confidence Interval

Mean Std. Error Upper Difference Difference -1.0468 -2.147 -1.4682

Lower -.6254

4.720 .030

-4.853 911.4

.049

-1.0468

-2.146

-1.4701

-.6234

13 Chapter 5: Comparing two means using the t-test

SECOND is to examine the following:

The SPSS output below displays the results of the t-test to test whether or not the difference between the two sample means is significantly different from zero. Remember the null hypothesis states that there is no real difference between the means (Ho: X1 = X2). Any observed difference just occurred by chance.

Interpretation: t-value This "t" value tells you how far away from 0, in terms of the number of standard errors, the observed difference between the two sample means falls. The "t" value is obtained by dividing the difference in the Means ( - 1.0468) by the Std. Error (-.2147) which is equal to - 4.875 p-value If the p-value as shown in the "sig (2 tailed) column is smaller than your chosen alpha level you do not reject the null hypothesis and argue that there is a real difference between the populations. In other words, we can conclude, that the observed difference between the samples is statistically significant. Mean Difference This is the difference between the means (labelled "Mean Difference"); i.e. 7.9512 8.9980 = 1.0468.

14 Chapter 5: Comparing two means using the t-test

Using the T-Test for Dependent Means The Dependent means t-test or the Paired t-test or the Repeated measures t-test is used when you have data from only one group of subjects. i.e. each subject obtains two scores under different conditions. For example, when you give a pre-test and after a particular treatment or intervention you give the same subjects a post-test. In this form of design, the same subjects obtain a score on the pretest and, after some intervention or manipulation obtain a score on the posttest. Your objective is to determine whether the difference between means for the two sets of scores is the same or different. You want to find answers to the following: Research Questions:

Is there a significant difference in pretest and posttest scores in mathematics for subjects taught using visualisation techniques?

Null Hypotheses:

There is no significant difference between the pretest and the posttest scores in mathematics for subjects taught using visualisation techniques.

Treatment: Students taught using Visualisation techniques

PRETEST

POSTTEST

Note: The pretest and posttest should be similar or equivalent

15 Chapter 5: Comparing two means using the t-test

FORMULA OF THE DEPENDENT t-TEST

d t =

The top part of the equation is the sum of the difference between the two means divided by n or the number of subjects

sd
n

The bottom part of the equation is the Standard Deviation (sd) which is a measure of the variability of dispersion of the scores divided by the square root of n or the number of subjects.

Lets look at an EXAMPLE where the formula is applied: A researcher wanted to determine if teaching 12 year children memory techniques improved their performance in science. Randomly selected 12 year olds were trained in memory techniques for two weeks and the results of the study is shown in the table below: Student Science Pretest 12 10 15 9 11 13 14 11 10 9 Science Posttest 18 14 19 15 14 17 16 13 16 12 Paired difference d 6 4 4 6 3 4 2 2 4 3 d = 38

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

d 36 16 16 36 9 16 4 4 16 9 d = 162

Standard deviation = 0.443 d = 38 d = 162

The 4th column in the table above shows the difference, d, between the science pretest and the science posttest scores for each of the 10 students sampled. You refer to each

16 Chapter 5: Comparing two means using the t-test

difference as a paired difference because it is the difference of a pair of observations. For example, student #1 got 12 on the pretest and 18 on the posttest, giving a paired difference of d = 18 12 = 6 marks, an increase in 6 marks as a result of the memory techniques training. If the null hypothesis is true, the paired differences between the pretest and the posttest for the 10 students sampled should average about 0 (zero). If the paired differences is greater than zero, the null hypothesis is false.

STEPS IN THE COMPUTATION OF THE T-VALUE Step 1: You begin by computing the d d =

(posttest score pretest score ) =

number of students

38 10

= 3.80

Step 2: Next is to compute the value of sd.

sd =

(d) n n1

162

(38) n n1

1.399

Step 3: Applying the t-test for Dependent Means formula: d t = sd = 3.80 = 1.399 8.589

10

17 Chapter 5: Comparing two means using the t-test

Excerpt of the Table of Critical Values for Student's t-test

Tailed Two 0.100 One 0.200 df 9 10 11 12 Step 4: 1.383 1.372 1.363 1.356

0.050 0.100

0.025 0.050

0.010 0.020

0.005 0.010

1.833 1.812 1.796 1.782

2.262 2.228 2.201 2.179

2.821 2.764 2.718 2.681

3.250 3.169 3.106 3.055

Having computed the t-value (which is 8.589) you look up the t-value in The Table of Critical Values for Student's t-test or The Table of Significance which tells us whether the ratio is large enough to say that the difference between the groups is significant. In other words the difference observed is not likely due to chance or sampling error. Alpha Level: The researcher set the alpha level at 0.05. This means that 5% of the time (five out of a hundred) you would find a statistically significant difference between the means even if there is none ("chance"). Degrees of Freedom: The t-test also requires that we determine the degrees of freedom (df) for the test. In the t-test, the degrees of freedom is the sum of the subjects or persons which is 10 minus 1 = 9. Given the alpha level, the df, and the t-value, you look up in the Table (available as an appendix in the back of most statistics texts) to determine whether the t-value is large enough to be significant.

Step 5: The t-value obtained is 8.589 which is greater than the critical value shown which is 1.833 (one tailed). Hence, the null hypothesis [Ho:] is Rejected and Ha: is accepted

18 Chapter 5: Comparing two means using the t-test

which states Mean 1 > than Mean 2. It can be concluded that the difference between the means is different. In other words, there is overwhelming evidence that a "gain" has taken place on the science posttest as a result of training students on memory techniques. Again, you do not have to go through this tedious process, as statistical computer programs such as SPSS, provides the significance test results, saving you from looking them up in a table.

Note: Misapplication of the Formula A common error made by some research students is the misapplication of the formula. Researchers who have Dependent Samples fail to recognise this fact, and inappropriately apply the t-test for Independent Groups to test the hypothesis that X = X = 0. If an inappropriate Independent Groups t-test is performed with Dependent Groups the standard error will be greatly overestimated and significant differences between the two means may be considered "non-significant" (Type 1 Error). The opposite error, mistaking non-significant differences for significant ones (Type 2 Error), may be made if the Independent Groups t-test is applied to Dependent Groups t-test. Thus, when using the t-test, you need to recognise and distinguish Independent and Dependent samples.

Using SPSS: T-Test for Dependent Means

EXAMPLE: In a study, a researcher was keen to determine if teaching note-taking techniques improved achievement in history. A sample of 22 students selected for the study and taught note-taking techniques for a period of 4 weeks. The research questions put forward is: "Is there a significant difference in performance in history before and after the treatment?" i.e. You wish to determine whether the difference between the means for the two sets of score is the same or different. To establish the statistical significance of the means obtained on the pretest and posttest, the dependent-samples or paired t-test was used.

19 Chapter 5: Comparing two means using the t-test

Data was collected from the same group of subjects on both conditions and each subject obtains a score on the pretest, and after the treatment (or intervention or manipulation), a score on the posttest. Ho: U1 = U2 or Ha: U1 = U2

SPSS PROCEDURES for the dependent groups t-test: 1. Select the Analyze menu. 2. Click on Compare Means and then Paired-Samples T Test ....to open the Paired-Sample T Test dialogue box. 3. Select the test variable(s). [i.e. History Test] and then press the button to move the variables into the Paired Variables: box Click on Continue and then OK.

4.

You will notice that the syntax for the Independent Groups t-test is different from that of the Dependent groups t-test. In the case of the Independent Groups t-test you have a grouping variable so you can distinguish between Group 1 and Group 2 whereas this is not found with the Dependent groups t -test.

The following are the SPSS OUTPUTS:

Paired Sample Statistics HISTORY TEST Pair Pretest Posttest N 40 40 Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean 43.15 12.97 2.05 63.98 13.16 2.08

The Paired sample statistics table above reports that the mean values on the variable (history test) for the pretest and posttest. The posttest mean is higher (63.98) than the posttest mean (43.15) indicating improved performance in the history test after the

20 Chapter 5: Comparing two means using the t-test

treatment. The standard deviation for the pretest 2.05 and is very close to the standard deviation for the posttest which is 2.08. The question remains: Is this mean difference large enough to convince us that there it is a real significant difference in performance in history a consequence of teaching note taking techniques)?

Paired Differences
Mean Std . Std. Error Difference Deviation Mean t Lower Upper df Sig. (2 tailed)

Pair Pretest Posttest

-20.83

15.65

2.47

-25.83

-15.82 -8.43

39

.000

t-Value This "t" value tells you how far away from 0, in terms of the number of standard errors, the observed difference between the two sample means falls. The "t" value is obtained by dividing the Mean difference ( - 20.83) by the Std. Error (2.47) which is equal to 8.43. p-value The p-value shown in the "sig (2 tailed) column is smaller than your chosen alpha level (0.05) and so you Reject the null hypothesis and argue that there is a real difference between the pretest and posttest. In other words, we can conclude, that the observed means is statistically significant. Mean Difference This is the difference between the means 43.15 63.98 = 20.83 which students did significantly better on the posttest. difference between the two

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LEARNING ACTIVITY t-Test for Dependent Means or Groups T-test Page 3 of 5 CASE STUDY 1: In a study, a researcher was interested in finding out whether attitude towards science would be enhanced when students are taught science using the Inquiry Method. A sample of 22 students were administered an attitude toward science scale before the experiment. The treatment was conducted for one semester and after which the same attitude scale was administered to the same group of students.

ATTITUDE Pair Pretest Posttest

N 22 22

Mean 8.50 13.86

Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean 3.33 2.75 .71 .59

Paired Differences Mean Std . Deviation Std. Error Mean Lower t Upper df Sig. (2 tailed)

Pair Pretest -5.36 1 Posttest

2.90

.62

-6.65

-4.08

-8.66

21

.000

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ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS: 1. State a null hypothesis for the above study. 2. State an alternative hypothesis for the above study. 3. Briefly describe the 'Paired Sample Statistics' table with regards to the means and variability of scores. 4. What is the conclusion of the null hypothesis stated in (1). 5. What is the conclusion of the alternative hypothesis stated in (2).

23 Chapter 5: Comparing two means using the t-test

LEARNING ACTIVITY t-Test for Independent Means or Groups T-test CASE STUDY 2: A researcher was interested in finding out about the creative thinking skills of secondary school students. He administered a 10 item creative thinking to a sample of 4400 sixteen year old students drawn from all over Malaysia e 3 of 5

GENDER N Male Female 1966 2438 Mean Std. Deviation 6.9410 6.8351 2.2858 2.4862 Std. Error Mean 5.155E-02 5.035E-02

Levene's Test for Equality of Variances

t-test for Equality of Means

Sig.

df

Sig. 2-tailed .145 .142

Mean Difference .1059 .1059

Std. Error Difference 7.271E-02 7.206E-02

Equal Equal

19.408

.000

1.456 1.469

4402 4327

24 Chapter 5: Comparing two means using the t-test

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONSE: 1. State a null hypothesis for the above study. 2. State an alternative hypothesis for the above study. 3. Briefly describe the 'Group Statistics' table with regards to the means and variability of scores. 4. Is there evidence for homogeneity of variance? Explain. 5. What would you do if the significance level is 0.053? 6. What is the conclusion of the null hypothesis stated in (1). 7. What is the conclusion of the alternative hypothesis stated in (2).

SUMMARY

The t-test was developed by a statistician, W.S. Gossett (1878-1937) who worked in a brewery in Dublin, Ireland. Researchers are keen to determine whether the differences observed between two samples represents a real difference between the populations from which the samples were drawn. The t-test is a powerful statistic that enables you to determine that the differences obtained between two groups is statistically significant. When two groups are INDEPENDENT of each other; it means that the sample drawn came from two populations. Other words used to mean that the two groups are independent are "unpaired" groups and "unpooled groups.. In most educational and social research, the "rule of thumb" is to set the alpha level at .05. This means that 5% of the time (five times out of a hundred) you would find a statistically significant difference between the means even if there is none ("chance").

25 Chapter 5: Comparing two means using the t-test

This "t" value tells you how far away from 0, in terms of the number of standard errors, the observed difference between the two sample means falls. The Dependent means t-test or the Paired t-test or the Repeated measures t-test is used when you have data from only one group of subjects. i.e. each subject obtains two scores under different conditions.

KEY WORDS:

T-test Independent groups Dependent groups Paired groups t-value Levenes test Critical values Alpha level Degress of freedom One tailed Two tailed Null hypothesis Alternative hypothesis