Introduction
The t-test is a commonly used statistical test that is used to compare the means of two groups. It is used to determine whether there is a statistically significant difference between the means of the two groups. The t-test is used in a variety of fields, including psychology, medicine, engineering, and economics. This article will discuss the t-test in more detail, including its assumptions, types, and uses.
What is a t-test?
The t-test is a type of inferential statistic that is used to determine whether the means of two groups are statistically significantly different from each other. It is used to compare the means of two groups and determine whether the difference between the two groups is statistically significant. The t-test is based on the assumption that the data is normally distributed.
Types of t-tests
There are two types of t-tests: the independent samples t-test and the dependent samples t-test. The independent samples t-test is used to compare the means of two groups that are independent of each other. The dependent samples t-test is used to compare the means of two groups that are related to each other, such as data from before and after an intervention.
Uses of the t-test
The t-test is used in a variety of fields, including psychology, medicine, engineering, and economics. In psychology, the t-test is used to compare the means of two groups on a certain measure, such as a personality test or an IQ test. In medicine, the t-test is used to compare the means of two groups on a certain measure, such as a blood pressure reading or a cholesterol level. In engineering, the t-test is used to compare the means of two groups on a certain measure, such as a strength test or a speed test. In economics, the t-test is used to compare the means of two groups on a certain measure, such as income or spending.
Conclusion
The t-test is a commonly used statistical test that is used to compare the means of two groups. It is based on the assumption that the data is normally distributed and can be used in a variety of fields, including psychology, medicine, engineering, and economics. The t-test is used to determine whether the difference between the means of the two groups is statistically significant.
References
Field, A. (2013). Discovering Statistics Using IBM SPSS Statistics (4th ed.). London: SAGE Publications.
Ghasemi, A. & Zahediasl, S. (2012). Normality Tests for Statistical Analysis. Acta Scientiarum Polonorum Formatio Circumiectus, 11(1), 3-20.
Kirkpatrick, S., & Feeney, B. C. (2011). Understanding and Using Statistics in Psychology: A Practical Introduction (3rd ed.). London: SAGE Publications.
Moore, D. S. (2012). The basic practice of statistics (6th ed.). New York, NY: W.H. Freeman and Company.