Reading for Data Analysis

Measurement
Measurement - assigning numbers to observations of a variable according to rules so that they reflect the real world.
Scales of measurement
o Nominal scale - naming, used to label, classify, or categorize data (gender, SSN, number
on athletic jersey, locker number, address). Nominal scale represents a nonordered classification.
o Ordinal scale - classification function plus observations are ordered, distance between adjacent
values not necessarily the same (olympic medals, finishing place in a race, class rank). Ordinal scale represents a
sequential ordering of the things measured in relation to amount or degree of the variable.
o Interval scale - classification, ordered plus equal intervals between adjacent units (all test scores
are assumed to be at the interval scale, temperature Fahrenheit, temperature Centigrade). An interval scale has equal units
of measurement but an arbitrary zero point.
o Ratio scale - all of the above plus the scale has an absolute zero, a meaningful zero. Most
physical measures are at the ratio level of measurement (height, weight, distance, time, pressure, temperature on the
Kelvin scale - absolute zero is -273 degrees Centigrade). A ratio scale is an interval scale that has an absolute zero.

FOUR TYPES OF MEASUREMENT SCALES ARE: nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio. It's important to know which type of
scale is represented in the research data because different scales require different methods of statistical analysis. All variables
are represented in at least one of the above measurement scale. That is, the variables represented nominal scale are named
nominal variables, the variables represented ordinal scale are called ordinal variables and so forth.
The following table is an overview of the comparison of 4 kinds of variables. It provides you a direction of reading this article.

Variables

Properties
Nominal Ordinal Interval Ratio

Classify objects

Rank objects

Equal interval

True zero point

Nominal Variables
Nominal variables, also called categorical variables, represent the lowest level of
measurement. They simply classify persons or objects into two or more categories where
members of a category have at least one common characteristic. Nominal variables include
gender (female, male); employment status (full-time, part-time, unemployed); marital status
(married, divorced, single); and type of school (public, private, charter). For identification
purposes, nominal variables are often represented by numbers. For example, the category
"male" may be represented by number 1 and "female" by the number 2. It is critically
important to understand that such numbering of nominal variables does not indicate that one Frankenstein is Tall;
category is higher or better than another. The numbers are only labels for the groups. Igor is Short

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Ordinal Variables RANK HEIGHT INTERVAL
Ordinal variables, like nominal variables, classify persons or objects but also 1 6 ft, 5 in.
rank them in terms of the degree to which they possess a characteristic of 2 6 ft, 0 in 5 inches
interest. In other words, ordinal variables put persons or objects in order from 3 5 ft, 11 in. 1 inch
highest to lowest or from most to least. 4 5 ft, 4 in. 7 inches
However, ordinal variables do not indicate how much higher or how much
better one person performed compared to another. In other words, intervals
between ranks are not equal; the difference between rank 1 and rank 2 is not
necessarily the same as the difference between rank 2 and rank 3. For
example, consider the ranking of these four heights:

Interval Variables (Nominal + Ordinal) + Equal interval Frankenstein scores 8; Igor

Interval variables have all the characteristics of nominal and ordinal variables, but also scores 4 feet tall
have equal intervals. Most of the tests used in educational research, such as
achievement, aptitude, motivation, and attitude tests are treated as interval variables.
Because of equal intervals, for example, the difference between a score of 30 and a
score of 40 is essentially the same as the difference between a score of 50 and a score
of 60. Interval scales, however, do not have a true zero point. A score of 0 does not
indicate the total absence of knowledge but only indicates the lowest level of
performance possible on a particular test and a score of 100 the highest level. Thus, we
can say that a test score of 90 is 45 points higher than a score of 45, but we cannot say
that a person scoring 90 knows twice as much as a person scoring 45.

Ratio Variables Frankenstein is 7

Ratio variables represent the highest, most precise, level of measurement. A feet tall; Igor is 3,5
ratio variable has all the properties of the types already discussed. In feet tall
addition, it has a true zero point. Height, weight, time, distance and speed are
examples of ratio scales. Because of the true zero point, we can say that a
person 6 ft, 4 in. is twice as tall as one 3 ft, 2 in. Similarly, 60 minutes is three
times as long as 20 minutes and 40 pounds is four times as heavy as 10
pounds.

Sampling biase and sample size

Sampling biase - Sampling biase is caused by systematic errors in the sampling process. For example, we want to take one-
forth of our students as a sample to use in a research study, so we send out notes to the parents requesting permission for
their children to participate in the study and then select those students whose parents give permission first as the sample for
the study.
Sample size - In general, the larger the sample size, the more representative it is of the population.

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Sample Size: Krejcie & Morgan Table

N S N S N S N S N S
10 10 100 80 280 162 800 260 2800 338
15 14 110 86 290 165 850 265 3000 341
20 19 120 92 300 169 900 269 3500 346
25 24 130 97 320 175 1000 274 4000 351
30 28 140 103 340 181 1100 278 4500 354
35 32 150 108 360 186 1200 285 5000 357
40 36 160 113 380 191 1300 291 6000 361
45 40 170 118 400 196 1400 197 7000 364
50 44 180 123 420 201 1500 302 8000 367
55 48 190 127 440 205 1600 306 9000 368
60 52 200 132 460 210 1700 310 10000 370
65 56 210 136 480 214 1800 313 15000 375
70 59 220 140 500 217 1900 317 20000 377
75 63 230 144 550 226 2000 320 30000 379
80 66 240 148 600 234 2200 322 40000 380
85 70 250 152 650 242 2400 327 50000 381
90 73 260 155 700 248 2600 331 75000 382
95 76 270 159 750 254 2800 335 100000 384

Discrete Data
A set of data is said to be discrete if the values / observations belonging to it are distinct and separate, i.e. they can be counted
(1,2,3,....). Examples might include the number of kittens in a litter; the number of patients in a doctors surgery; the number of
flaws in one metre of cloth; gender (male, female); blood group (O, A, B, AB).

Categorical Data
A set of data is said to be categorical if the values or observations belonging to it can be sorted according to category. Each
value is chosen from a set of non-overlapping categories. For example, shoes in a cupboard can be sorted according to colour:
the characteristic 'colour' can have non-overlapping categories 'black', 'brown', 'red' and 'other'. People have the characteristic
of 'gender' with categories 'male' and 'female'.
Categories should be chosen carefully since a bad choice can prejudice the outcome of an investigation. Every value should
belong to one and only one category, and there should be no doubt as to which one.

Continuous Data
A set of data is said to be continuous if the values / observations belonging to it may take on any value within a finite or infinite
interval. You can count, order and measure continuous data. For example height, weight, temperature, the amount of sugar in
an orange, the time required to run a mile.

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 Descriptive Statistics
Descriptive statistics are a way of summarizing data or letting one number stand for a group of numbers. There are three ways
we can summarize data.

Tabular representation of data - we can summarize data by making a table of the data. In statistics we call these tables
frequency distributions and in this lesson we will look at four different types of frequency distributions.
Simple frequency distribution (or it can be just called a frequency distribution).
Cumulative frequency distribution.
Grouped frequency distribution.
Cumulative grouped frequency distribution.
Graphical representation of data - we can make a graph of the data.
bar graph
histogram
frequency polygon
scatter diagram
Numerical representation of data - we can use a single number to represent many numbers.
Measures of central tendency.
Measures of variability.
Measures of association.

Tabular Representation

Frequency Distribution
A frequency table is a way of summarising a set of data. It is a record of how often each value (or set of values) of the variable
in question occurs. It may be enhanced by the addition of percentages that fall into each category.
A frequency table is used to summarise categorical, nominal, and ordinal data. It may also be used to summarise continuous
data once the data set has been divided up into sensible groups.
When we have more than one categorical variable in our data set, a frequency table is sometimes called a contingency table
because the figures found in the rows are contingent upon (dependent upon) those found in the columns.
Example
Suppose that in thirty shots at a target, a marksman makes the following scores:
522344320303215
131552400454455
The frequencies of the different scores can be summarised as:
Score Frequency Percentage (%)
0 4 13
1 3 10
2 5 17
3 5 17
4 6 20
5 7 23

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Consider the following set of data which are the high temperatures recorded for 30 consecutive days. We wish to summarize
this data by creating a frequency distribution of the temperatures.

Data Set - High Temperatures for 30 Days

50 45 49 50 43
49 50 49 45 49
47 47 44 51 51
44 47 46 50 44
51 49 43 43 49
45 46 45 51 46

To create a frequency distribution from this data we proceed as follows:

Identify the highest and lowest values in the data set. For our temperatures the highest temperature is 51 and the lowest
temperature is 43.
Create a column with the title of the variable we are using, in this case temperature. Enter the highest score at the top, and
include all values within the range from the highest score to the lowest score.
Create a tally column to keep track of the scores as you enter them into the frequency distribution. Once the frequency
distribution is completed you can omit this column. Most printed frequency distributions do not retain the tally column in their
final form.
Create a frequency column, with the frequency of each value, as show in the tally column, recorded.
At the bottom of the frequency column record the total frequency for the distribution proceeded by N =
Enter the name of the frequency distribution at the top of the table.
If we applied these steps to the temperature data we would have the following frequency distribution.
Frequency Distribution for High Temperatures
Temperature Tally Frequency
51 //// 4
50 //// 4
49 ////// 6
48 0
47 /// 3
46 /// 3
45 //// 4
44 /// 3
43 /// 3
N= 30

Cumulative Frequency Distribution

A cumulative frequency distribution can be created from a frequency distribution by adding an additional column called
"Cumulative Frequency." For each score value the cumulative frequency for that score value is the frequency up to and
including the frequency for that value. In the cumulative frequency distribution for the high temperatures data below, notice that
the cumulative frequency for the lowest temperature (43) is 3, and that the cumulative frequency for the temperature 44 is 3+3
or 6. The cumulative frequency for a given value can also be obtained by adding the frequency for the value to the cumulative
value for the value below the given value. For example the cumulative frequency for 45 is 10 which is the cumulative frequency

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for 44 (6) plus the frequency for 45 (4). Finally, notice that the cumulative frequency for the highest value (51 in the current
case) should be the same as the total of the frequency column (30 in the case of the temperature data).

Cumulative Frequency Distribution for High Temperatures

Temperature Tally Frequency Cumulative Frequency
51 //// 4 30
50 //// 4 26
49 ////// 6 22
48 0 16
47 /// 3 16
46 /// 3 13
45 //// 4 10
44 /// 3 6
43 /// 3 3
N= 30

In summary then, to create a cumulative frequency distribution:

Create a frequency distribution
Add a column entitled cumulative frequency
The cumulative frequency for each score is the frequency up to and including the frequency for that score
The highest cumulative frequency should equal N (the total of the frequency column)

Grouped frequency distribution

In some cases it is necessary to group the values of the data to summarize the data properly. For example, you wish to create
a frequency distribution for the IQ scores in your class of 30 pupils. The IQ scores in your class range from 73 to 139. To
include these scores in a frequency distribution you would need 67 different score values (139 down to 73). This would not
summarize the data very much. To solve this problem we would group scores together and create a grouped frequency
distribution.
If your data has more than 20 score values, you should create a grouped frequency distribution by grouping score values
together into class intervals. To create a grouped frequency distribution:
select an interval size so that you have 7-20 class intervals
create a class interval column and list each of the class intervals
each interval must be the same size, they must not overlap, there may be no gaps within the range of class
intervals
create a tally column (optional)
create a midpoint column for interval midpoints
create a frequency column
enter N = some value at the bottom of the frequency column
Look at the following data of high temperatures for 50 days. The highest temperature is 59 and the lowest temperature is 39. If
we were to create a simple frequency distribution of this data we would have 21 temperature values. This is greater than 20
values so we should create a grouped frequency distribution.

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Data Set - High Temperatures for 50 Days
57 39 52 52 43
50 53 42 58 55
58 50 53 50 49
45 49 51 44 54
49 57 55 59 45
50 45 51 54 58
53 49 52 51 41
52 40 44 49 45
43 47 47 43 51
55 55 46 54 41

If we use this data and follow the suggestions for creation of a grouped frequency distribution, we would create the following
grouped frequency distribution. Note that we use an interval size of three so that each class interval includes three score
values. Also note that we have included an interval midpoint column, this is the middle of each interval.

Grouped Frequency Distribution for High Temperatures

Class Interval Tally Interval Midpoint Frequency
57-59 ////// 58 6
54-56 /////// 55 7
51-53 /////////// 52 11
48-50 ///////// 49 9
45-47 /////// 46 7
42-44 ////// 43 6
39-41 //// 40 4
N= 50

Table

Class Interval Frequency (F) Percentage (%)

57-59 6 12
54-56 7 14
51-53 11 22
48-50 9 18
45-47 7 14
42-44 6 12
39-41 4 8
TOTAL (n) 50 100

Graphical Representation of Data

In our last lesson we considered the tabular representation of data (descriptive statistics) as we created frequency distributions
from data.

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In this lesson we will make graphs from these frequency distributions as we explore the graphical representation of data. We
will learn to create histograms, bar graphs, and frequency polygons. We will also discuss how to create graphs with the Excel
spreadsheet program.
The graphs we will be considering in this course, are all two dimensional representations of data that could also be shown in a
frequency distribution. The typical graph consists of
A horizontal axis or x-axis which represents the variable being presented. This axis is referred to as the
abscissa of the graph and sometimes as the category axis. This axis of the graph should be named and should show
the categories or divisions of the variable being represented.
A vertical axis or y-axis which is referred to as the ordinate or the value axis. In the graphs we will be
considering the ordinate will show the frequency with which each category of the variable occurs. This axis should be
labeled as frequency and also have a scale, the values of the scale being represented by tic marks. By convention the
length of the ordinate is three-fourths the length of the abscissa. This is referred to as the three-fourths rule in graph
construction.
Each graph should also have a title which indicates the contents of the graph.
Some of these features of a graph are illustrated in the figure below.

Histogram
A histogram is similar to the common bar graph but is used to represent data at the interval or ratio level of measurement,
while the bar graph is used to represent data at the nominal or ordinal level of measurement. The following frequency
distribution shows the ages of children participating in an after school program.

Frequency Distribution of Ages for Children in After School Program

Age Frequency
11 2
10 4
9 8
8 7
7 3
6 0
5 1
N= 25

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For this frequency distribution the variable, age, is at the ratio level of measurement so it would be appropriate to create a
histogram from this data.
To create a histogram from this frequency distribution we proceed as follows:
Arrange the age values along the abscissa (horizontal axis) of the graph, using a tic mark to indicate each category
or value of the variable. Arrange the ages with the lowest age on the left and the highest age on the right. Provide a label
(Age) for the abscissa.
Create a ordinate (vertical axis) that is approximately three fourths the length of the abscissa, to contain the range of
scores for the frequencies (0 to 8). Arrange the frequency values along the abscissa with tic marks for each value. Provide
a label for the ordinate (Frequency).
Create the body of the histogram by drawing a bar or column, the length of which represents the frequency for each
age value. Arrange the columns so that they are contingent to one another.
Provide a title for the histogram.
If we applied these steps to the ages for children data we would have the following histogram.

Bar Graph
A bar graph is similar to a histogram except that the bars or columns are separated from one another by a space rather than
being contingent to one another. The bar graph is used to represent categorical or discrete data, that is data at the nominal or
ordinal level of measurement. The variable levels are not continuous, therefore the bars representing various levels of the
variable are distinct from one another. When data is at the interval or ratio level of measurement, variable levels or values are
continuous, therefore the bars or columns of the histogram are contingent to one another.
The following frequency distribution represents the education level of employees at the Best Pizza in 2000.
Education Level of Best Pizza Employees (2002)
Education Frequency
Elementary 11
Junior Secondary 3
Senior Secondary 1
Special education 1
Bachelor 2
Masters 1
Elementary DO 5
N= 24

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The data for education level is at the nominal level of measurement and therefore it would be appropriate to represent this data
with a bar graph. The bar graph for education level of Best Pizza employees appears below.

Education Level of Best Pizza Employees

Elementary
12
10 Junior Secondary

8 Senior Secondary

6 Special Education

4 Bachelor

2 Masters

0 Elementary DO
Education Level

Frequency Polygon

A frequency polygon is what you may think of as a curve. A frequency polygon can be created with interval or ratio data. Let's
create a frequency polygon with the children's ages data we used earlier in this lesson to create a histogram.
For this frequency distribution the variable, age, is at the ratio level of measurement so it would be appropriate to create a
frequency polygon from this data.
To create a frequency polygon from the frequency distribution for ages of children in the after school program we proceed as
follows:
Arrange the age values along the abscissa (horizontal axis) of the graph, using a tic mark to indicate each category
or value of the variable. Arrange the ages with the lowest age on the left and the highest age on the right. Provide a label
(Age) for the abscissa. Since we must bring the curve for a frequency polygon down to the baseline at the low and the high
end of the curve, we must add one age value (4) below the lowest age value (5) with a frequency of 0 and one age value
(12) above the highest age value (11) also with a frequency of 0.
Create a ordinate (vertical axis) that is approximately three fourths the length of the abscissa, to contain the range of
scores for the frequencies (0 to 8). Arrange the frequency values along the abscissa with tic marks for each value. Provide
a label for the ordinate (Frequency).
Create the body of the frequency polygon by placing a dot for each age value at a position on the chart that
represents the frequency for that age value. Connect each of the dots to the next dot with a straight line.
Provide a title for the frequency polygon.
If we applied these steps to the ages for children data we would have the following frequency polygon.

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Pie Chart
A pie chart is a way of summarising a set of categorical data. It is a circle which is divided into segments. Each segment
represents a particular category. The area of each segment is proportional to the number of cases in that category.
Example
Suppose that, in the last year a sports wear manufacturers has spent 6 million pounds on advertising their products; 3 million
has been spent on television adverts, 2 million on sponsorship, 1 million on newspaper adverts, and a half million on posters.
This spending can be summarised using a pie chart:

Histogram
A histogram is a way of summarising data that are measured on an interval scale (either discrete or continuous). It is often
used in exploratory data analysis to illustrate the major features of the distribution of the data in a convenient form. It divides up
the range of possible values in a data set into classes or groups. For each group, a rectangle is constructed with a base length
equal to the range of values in that specific group, and an area proportional to the number of observations falling into that
group. This means that the rectangles might be drawn of non-uniform height.
The histogram is only appropriate for variables whose values are numerical and measured on an interval scale. It is generally
used when dealing with large data sets (>100 observations), when stem and leaf plots become tedious to construct. A
histogram can also help detect any unusual observations (outliers), or any gaps in the data set.

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Measures of Central Tendency
In our last two sessions we have considered the tabular representation of data (frequency distributions) and the graphic
representation of data (bar graph, histogram, and frequency polygon).
In this lesson we will continue our investigation of descriptive statistics by looking at numerical methods for summarizing or
representing data. We will start this activity by looking at measures of central tendency or averageness and then in our next
lesson we will look at measures of variability or spreadoutedness.
Mode
We generally use one of three measures of central tendency: the mode, the median, or the mean.
The mode is the most frequently occurring measure or score (like the mode in fashion).
For the following set of 10 scores:
14, 18, 16, 17, 20, 15, 18, 17, 16, 17
The mode is 17 as it is the most frequently occurring score (there are 3 17s in the set of scores).
Median
The median is the middle score in a distribution or the middle most score of the distribution. To calculate the median just
arrange the scores from smallest to largest (or from largest to smallest) and then count up to the middle score. If there are an
even number of scores than the median is one-half of the sum of the two middle scores (the average of the two middle scores).
For the following set of scores (already arranged in order of size):
10, 14, 16, 16, 19, 23, 27
The median would be the fourth score as there are seven scores. The value of the fourth score is 16 so the median of the
scores is 16.
For the following set of scores (already arranged in order of size):
10, 14, 16, 19, 23, 27
The median would be half way between the third and fourth scores as there are six scores. Half way between 16 (the third
score) and 19 (the fourth score) is (16 + 19)/2 which is 17.5, so the median is 17.5
The median is the value halfway through the ordered data set, below and above which there lies an equal number of data
values.
It is generally a good descriptive measure of the location which works well for skewed data, or data with outliers.
Example
With an odd number of data values, for example 21, we have:

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 Data 96 48 27 72 39 70 7 68 99 36 95 4 6 13 34 74 65 42 28 54 69
Ordered Data 4 6 7 13 27 28 34 36 39 42 48 54 65 68 69 70 72 74 95 96 99
Median 48, leaving ten values below and ten values above
With an even number of data values, for example 20, we have:

Data 57 55 85 24 33 49 94 2 8 51 71 30 91 6 47 50 65 43 41 7
Ordered Data 2 6 7 8 24 30 33 41 43 47 49 50 51 55 57 65 71 85 91 94
Median Halfway between the two 'middle' data points - in this case halfway between 47 and
49, and so the median is 48

Mean for a Population

The mean is a relatively simple concept and we intuitively know that the mean or average is the sum of all the values divided
by the number of values.
Thus the mean of the five scores: 9, 4, 7, 7, 4
is 9 + 4 + 7 + 7 + 4 divided by 5 or 31/5 = 6.2
The statistical formula for the mean for a population is:

where

the Greek letter mu, is the symbol for the population mean
is the summation sign and means that we should sum up what ever appears after the summation sign
is the symbol for an individual score, and
upper case N, is the symbol for the total number of scores in a population.

In English then, the formula for the mean for a population says sum up all of the individual scores ( ) and
divide that sum by the number of scores ( ).

Using this formula and a hand held calculator, find the mean for the following population of scores, which are the
scores obtained by 15 seventh grade pupils on a science test:

Science Test Scores

17 23 27 26 25
30 19 24 29 18
25 26 23 22 21

The answer you should have obtained for this set of scores is:

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Where the answer is rounded off to three decimal places.

The formula for the mean which we have been looking at is for use with a set of scores. If we already have our
scores in a frequency distribution then we have to modify the formula somewhat to account for all of the scores in
the frequency distribution.

Consider the following frequency distribution of ages for children in an after school program. Note that we have
added a column called fX or the score times the frequency of that score. For example, there are two eleven year
olds so the fX for eleven year olds is 22, there are four ten year olds so the fX for ten year olds is 40. Also note
that the sum of the fX column is recorded at the bottom of the column.

The formula for the population mean for a set of scores in a frequency distribution is:

Frequency Distribution of Ages for Children in After School Program

Age Frequency fX
11 2 22
10 4 40
9 8 72
8 7 56
7 3 21
6 0 0
5 1 5
N= 25 216

So the mean for the population of ages of children in the after school program is:

Mean for a Sample

The mean for a sample of scores is calculated in exactly the same way as the mean for a population of scores. The
only thing that differs is the symbol used to represent the mean. The symbol for the mean of a sample is x bar, that
is an x with a bar above it. You can think of x bar as representing the average X or score. The formula for the mean
for a set of scores in a sample is:

where

lower case n, is the symbol for the total number of scores in a sample

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The formula for the mean for a set of sample scores in a frequency distribution is:

Measures of Variability
In our last lesson we considered measures of central tendency (mean, median, and mode), as numerical methods
for summarizing data. In this lesson we will continue our investigation of descriptive statistics by looking at
measures of variability. The measures of variability we will consider are the range, the variance, and the standard
deviation.
The data values in a sample are not all the same. This variation between values is called dispersion.
When the dispersion is large, the values are widely scattered; when it is small they are tightly clustered. The width
of diagrams such as dot plots, box plots, stem and leaf plots is greater for samples with more dispersion and vice
versa.
There are several measures of dispersion, the most common being the standard deviation. These measures indicate
to what degree the individual observations of a data set are dispersed or 'spread out' around their mean.
In manufacturing or measurement, high precision is associated with low dispersion.

Range
The range of a sample (or a data set) is a measure of the spread or the dispersion of the observations. It is the
difference between the largest and the smallest observed value of some quantitative characteristic and is very easy
to calculate.
A great deal of information is ignored when computing the range since only the largest and the smallest data
values are considered; the remaining data are ignored.
The range value of a data set is greatly influenced by the presence of just one unusually large or small value in the
sample (outlier).
Examples
The range of 65,73,89,56,73,52,47 is 89-47 = 42.
If the highest score in a 1st year statistics exam was 98 and the lowest 48, then the range would be 98-48 = 50.
Consider the following two sets of scores:
Set A: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Set B: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10
We can see that the means for these two sets of scores are the same:
For Set A the mean is (4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8)/5 = 6
For Set B the mean is (2 + 4 + 6 + 8 + 10)/5 = 6
Although these two sets of scores have the same mean, they differ in how spread out the scores are. The scores in
Set A vary over a smaller set of values (4 through 8) than does Set B which varies over score values from 2
through 10.
Range = Highest Score - Lowest Score + 1
For Set A the Range = (8 - 4) = 4
For Set B the Range = (10 - 2) = 8
As we expected the set of scores with the greater spreadoutedness (Set B), has a larger range than the set with less
variability (Set A).

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The range is very easy to calculate, but we would also like to have a measure of variability that, like the mean,
considers every score in its calculation. There are two measures of variability that do this, the variance and the
standard deviation.
Variance
The variance is the average squared deviation of the scores from the mean. Don't try to memorize this definition at
the present time as we will look at it in more detail as we investigate how to calculate the variance. At that time the
definition will make more sense.
Standard Deviation
The standard deviation is the square root of the squared deviation of the scores from the mean and is thus the
average deviation of the scores from the mean. As we will find out when we consider the calculation of the
standard deviation, it is the square root of the variance and the variance is the standard deviation squared
(multiplied by itself).
When we were considering the mean, we found that the mean for a sample, was calculated in the same way as the
mean for a population. Only the symbols used to represent the mean (and the number of scores) differed. For the
variance and the standard deviation this is no longer true, not only are the symbols different, but they are
calculated in a slightly different way.
We will consider two different methods to calculate the variance for a population (the deviation score method and
the raw score method), two ways to calculate the variance for a sample, and two methods to calculate the standard
deviation for a population and the standard deviation for a sample.

Calculating Variance by the Deviation Score Method

Let us first consider the deviation score method for calculating the variance for a population of scores. Although in
practice the deviation score is rarely used, it does help us understand how variance is calculated. It follows our
previous definition of variance and could thus be referred to as the definitional method of calculating variance.

The formula for the variance for a population using the deviation score method is as follows:

We can see from the formula that the symbol for the population variance is (sigma squared). The formula

says to take a score ( ) and subtract the mean ( ), then square this difference ( ) and sum up all

of these squared differences ( ), and divide the sum by the number of scores ( ).

We can see that the formula truly does say what the definition of variance says - variance is the average squared
deviation of the scores from the mean.

We will use this formula to find the variance for the seven scores found in the following worksheet. In the first
column we have the seven scores. At the bottom of the column is the sum of the scores and this can be used to find
the mean. The mean = the sum of the scores divided by the number of scores or 28/7 = 4. In the second column is
recorded the value for the score minus the mean and in the third column is recorded this value squared, that is the
square of the score minus the mean. At the bottom of the third column is the sum of the squared deviations of the
scores from the mean and this is the quantity we need to calculate the variance.

Worksheet for Calculating the Variance for 7 scores

16
 5 1 1
3 -1 1
4 0 0
4 0 0
3 -1 1
4 0 0
5 1 1
28 4

For this problem the population variance is 0.57

If we were to consider the scores above as a sample rather than a population, we would use the formula for the
variance for a sample using the deviation score method. That formula is

The are three differences between the formula for the sample variance and the formula for the population variance

The symbol for the sample variance is s squared ( )

The symbol for the sample mean is X bar ( )

The denominator of the equation uses the sample size -1 ( ) rather than N. This has to do with a
statistical concept regarding degrees of freedom. A sample has one less degree of freedom than a population
so for a population we divide by N, while for a sample we divide by n-1.
Thus we can see that for the sample variance for our problem above we simply divide by n-1 rather than N. For
our problem then, the sample variance is 0.667 (slightly larger than the population variance).

I hope that this discussion of variance, using the deviation score method, gives you a good understanding of
variance even if you will not be using this formula in the actual computation of variance. Actual computations
generally use the raw score formula and we will turn to that next.

Calculating Variance by the Raw Score Method

When we actually calculate the variance for a set of scores, we generally use the raw score method. This is also the
method used by computers and calculators to find the variance. The formula for the variance by the raw score
method is mathematically equivalent to the deviation score method. Although we will not do it now, it is possible
to derive the raw score formula from the deviation score formula.

17
The raw score formula for the variance is:

We can see from this formula that to find the population variance we sum up the squared individual scores

and subtract from them the sum of the scores quantity squared divided by the number of scores

. The variance then is this quantity divided by the number of scores. We can see that the only data we
need to make this calculation are the sum of the scores, the sum of the squared scores, and the number of scores.
The worksheet below shows these quantities.

Worksheet for Calculating the Variance for 7 scores

5 25
3 9
4 16
4 16
3 9
4 16
5 25
28 116

The quantity recorded at the bottom of the first column is the sum of the scores and the quantity at the

bottom of the second column is the sum of the squared scores . The number of scores can be obtained
by counting the number of scores in the first column. We can put these quantities into the formula for population
variance to obtain 0.57, the same answer as we got with the deviation score method.

If we were to consider the scores above as a sample rather than a population, we would use the formula for the
variance for a sample using the raw score method. That formula is

There are three differences between the formula for the sample variance and the formula for the population
variance

The symbol for the sample variance is s squared ( )

The symbol for the number of scores is n rather than N

The denominator of the equation uses the sample size -1 ( ) rather than N.

18
Thus we can see that for the sample variance for our problem above we simply divide by n-1 rather than N. For
our problem then, the sample variance is 0.667 (slightly larger than the population variance).

It is good to understand how we calculate variance, but in actual practice we will use a computer running the Excel
spreadsheet program to calculate the variance. Before we consider how this is done let us consider another
measure of variability, the standard deviation.

Calculating the Standard Deviation by the Deviation Score Method

At the beginning of this lesson we said that the standard deviation is the square root of the average squared
deviation of the scores from the mean.
If we look at the formula for the standard deviation for a population using the deviation score method we will see
that this is true.

The formula tells us to take a score and subtract the mean from it and square the difference. We then sum up all of
these squared differences and divide by the number of scores. Finally we take the square root of the product and
this is the standard deviation.
Let's do a problem in finding the standard deviation using the same data we used earlier to find the variance.
Worksheet for Calculating the Standard Deviation for 7 scores

5 1 1
3 -1 1
4 0 0
4 0 0
3 -1 1
4 0 0
5 1 1
28 4

The sum of squared deviation scores is found at the bottom of the third column and this is the quantity we need (as
well as N) to find the standard deviation. So using the formula we find the standard deviation to be 0.755

If we had already calculated the variance, we could find the standard deviation by taking the square root of the
variance, since the standard deviation is the square root of the variance.

19
If our data is considered a sample instead of a population we must use the formula for the standard deviation of a
sample using the deviation score method. This differs from the population formula by substituting n-1 for N in the
formula. So for our example the sample standard deviation by the deviation score method is 0.816

We can also find the sample standard deviation directly from the variance if we have already calculated the sample
variance.

I hope this discussion of the deviation score method for finding the standard deviation for a population and for a
sample gives you a better understanding of what the standard deviation really is. In actuality however, the standard
deviation is usually calculated using the raw score method, so let's turn to that topic now.

Calculating the Standard Deviation by the Raw Score Method

We can calculate the standard deviation for a population of scores using the raw score method by using the
following formula:

We can calculate the standard deviation for a sample of scores using the raw score method by using the following
formula:

The two formulas only differ by the term in the denominator. With the population the denominator consists of N,
while for the sample we use n-1 in the denominator.
Lets use the scores in the following worksheet to find the standard deviation for a population and for a sample by
the raw score method.

Worksheet for Calculating the Standard Deviation for 5 scores

2 4
4 16
6 36
8 64
10 100
--- ---
30 220

At the bottom of the first column is the sum of the scores (30) and at the bottom of the second column is the sum
of the squared scores (220). We need these quantities and the number of scores (5) to calculate the standard
deviation.

20
First lets calculate the standard deviation for a population.

Now lets use the same data to calculate the standard deviation for a sample.

So for our five scores the standard deviation considering the scores as a population is 2.828 while the standard
deviation for the same five scores if we consider them a sample is 3.162
We can also use the computer and a spreadsheet program to calculate the standard deviation and the variance for a
population and for a sample. For our next topic in Lesson 6 let's look at how to do this.

The Normal Curve

The normal curve or the normal frequency distribution is a hypothetical distribution of scores that is widely used
in statistical analysis. Since many psychological and physical measurements are normally distributed, the concept
of the normal curve can be used with many scores. The characteristics of the normal curve make it useful in
education and in the physical and social sciences.

Characteristics of the Normal Curve

Some of the important characteristics of the normal curve are:
The normal curve is a symmetrical distribution of scores with an equal number of scores above and below
the midpoint of the abscissa (horizontal axis of the curve).
Since the distribution of scores is symmetrical the mean, median, and mode are all at the same point on
the abscissa. In other words, the mean = the median = the mode.
If we divide the distribution up into standard deviation units, a known proportion of scores lies within
each portion of the curve.
Tables exist so that we can find the proportion of scores above and below any part of the curve, expressed
in standard deviation units. Scores expressed in standard deviation units, as we will see shortly, are referred to
as Z-scores.

21
Percentages of Cases Under Portions of the Normal Curve

Looking at the figure above, we can see that 34.13% of the scores lie between the mean and 1 standard deviation
above the mean. An equal proportion of scores (34.13%) lie between the mean and 1 standard deviation below the
mean. We can also see that for a normally distributed variable, approximately two-thirds of the scores lie within
one standard deviation of the mean (34.13% + 34.13% = 68.26%).
13.59% of the scores lie between one and two standard deviations above the mean, and between one and two
standard deviations below the mean. We can also see that for a normally distributed variable, approximately 95%
of the scores lie within two standard deviations of the mean (13.59% + 34.13% + 34.13% + 13.59% = 95.44%).
Finally, we can see that almost all of the scores are within three standard deviations of the mean. (2.14% + 13.59%
+ 34.13% + 34.13% + 13.59% + 2.14% = 99.72%) We can also find the percentage of scores within three standard
deviation units of the mean by subtracting .13% + .13% from 100% (100.00% - (.13% + .13%) = 99.74%).

Deviation IQ Scores and the Normal Curve

Deviation IQ Scores, sometimes called Wechsler IQ scores, are a standard score with a mean of 100 and a standard
deviation of 15. We can thus see that the average IQ for the general population would be 100. If IQ is normally
distributed, we would expect that two-thirds (68.26%) of the population would have deviation IQ's between 85 and
115. That is because 85 is one standard deviation below the mean and 115 is one standard deviation above the
mean. We would expect that 99.72% of the distribution would lie within three standard deviations of the mean
(that is IQs between 55 and 145).

The Stanford-Binet Scale of Intelligence IQ is also a standard score with a mean of 100 but with a standard
deviation of 16. Thus a Wechsler IQ of 115 (one SD above the mean) would be equivalent to a Binet IQ of 116
(also one SD above the mean). A Wechsler IQ of 130 (two SDs above the mean) would be equivalent to a Binet IQ
of 132. In some definitions of mental retardation, the cut off for an IQ score indicative of mental retardation is set
at two standard deviations below the mean of the general population. This would be equivalent to a Wechsler IQ of
70 but a Stanford-Binet IQ of 68. We would also expect that 2.27% (.13% + 2.14% = 2.27%) of the population
would have IQs this low.

Z-Scores

When a score is expressed in standard deviation units, it is referred to as a Z-score. A score that is one standard
deviation above the mean has a Z-score of 1. A score that is one standard deviation below the mean has a Z-score
of -1. A score that is at the mean would have a Z-score of 0. The normal curve with Z-scores along the abscissa
looks exactly like the normal curve with standard deviation units along the abscissa.

22
T-Scores

Another commonly used derived scores based on the normal curve, is the T-score. T-scores are derived scores with
a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10. The average T-score for a group of scorers would be 50. We can see
that a T-score of 60 would be equivalent to a Z-score of 1, and a Deviation IQ score of 115. Each of these scores
would be one standard deviation above the mean and would be equal to or higher than 84.13% of the scores
(50.00% + 34.13% = 84.13%.

Percentile Ranks

Another useful derived score is the percentile rank. The percentile rank is the percentage or proportion of scores
that score lower than a given score. If you received a percentile rank of 90 then 90% of the scores would be lower
than your score and 10% of the scores would be higher. You could also say that your score is at the 90th percentile.
The median for any set of scores (by definition) is at the 50th percentile. That is, 50% of the scores are lower than
the median, and 50% of the scores are higher than the median. Ordinarily percentiles are reported as whole
numbers so the highest percentile possible would be 99 and the lowest possible would be 1. A score that is one
standard deviation below the mean would have a percentile rank of 16 (0.13 + 2.14 + 13.59 = 15.86). A score that
is two standard deviations below the mean would have a percentile rank of 2 (0.13 + 2.14 = 2.27). A score that was
three standard deviations below the mean would be at the 1st percentile and one that was three standard deviations
above the mean would be at the 99th percentile. Some test designers have used the concept of extended percentile
ranks to make finer divisions for scores at the upper half of the 99th percentile and at the lower half of the 1st
percentile.

Percentage of Area under the Normal Curve Between any Given Z-Score and the Mean

Because of the characteristics of the normal curve we are able to find the exact proportion of scores falling below
any point on the curve, above any point on the curve, or between any two points on the curve. We do this in terms
of standard deviation units or Z-scores. A Z-score, you will recall, is a score expressed in standard deviation units.

Statistical tables exist that allow us to look up the exact proportion of scores between any Z-score and the mean.
Such a table of values is found in your textbook as Appendix A, Z Scores and Percentage of Area under the
Normal Curve Between any Given Z-Score and the Mean. In the first column of this table are listed Z scores
from 0.00 on page 311 to 3.70 on page 316. In the second column is the area from the given Z-score to the mean,
expressed as a proportion. To express this proportion as a percentage, multiply it by 100, i.e. move the decimal
point two places to the right, and add the percent sign. This Table (and the normal curve figure) allow us to solve
many problems involving scores that can be related to the normal curve.

Sample Problems Involving the Normal Curve

What percentage of the general population have deviation IQs lower than 85?

To solve this problem we have to convert the 85 IQ to a z-score. Since , where X is a

score, X bar is the mean, and S is the standard deviation. So for our problem the Z-score associated with
an IQ of 85 is

So an IQ of 85 is equivalent to a z-score of -1 and our question becomes what proportion of the normal
curve is lower than a z-score of -1. Table A only shows the proportion of scores between a z-score and the
mean (we can ignore the negative sign as the table only uses positive values). So we must look at the

23
 proportion of scores between a z-score of -1 and the mean and then subtract this value from .50 (50%). So
.50 - .3413 (the Table A value) = .1587 or 15.87% of the population has IQ scores lower than 85.
We can also solve this problem by using the normal curve figure we have seen in this lesson. Just add up
the proportion of the curve below -1 standard deviation, which is 13.59 + 2.14 + 0.13 = 15.86%. The
answer differs very slightly from the answer obtained from the table because of rounding errors.
What proportion of the normal curve lies between a Z-score of -2.37 and a Z-score of 1.87?
To answer this question we have to look up in Table A the proportion of scores between 2.37 and the
mean and between 1.87 and the mean. So the answer would be .4911 + .4693 = .9604 or 96.04%.
What proportion of the scores in a normal distribution are higher than a T-score of 60?
A T-score of 60 is actually one standard deviation above the mean or equivalent to a Z-score of 1.

So we can look in Table A and find that a Z-score of 1 has .3413 of the distribution between it and the
mean. Therefore there would be .5000 - .3413 = .1587 (15.87%) of the score above it. In other words
15.87% of the scores in a normal distribution would be higher than a T-score of 60.

What Z-score has 75% of the scores below it?

In this problem we have to enter the second column of Table A and find the proportion, then look at the Z-
score associated with it. We need 75% of the scores, so there are 50% of the scores below the mean and
then another 25% between the desired Z-score and the mean (75 - 50 = 25). So we must look in Table A
for .2500 (25%) in column 2. The closest values are .2486 and .2517. Since .2486 is the closest to .2500
we select the Z-score as 0.67. In other words the Z-score of 0.67 has 75% of the scores below it?

What deviation IQ ranges would include 80% of the population?

This problem is a little more difficult because we have to find the Z-score that has 40% of the scores
between it and the mean and then convert that Z-score to a deviation IQ score.
First looking in Table A we see that the Z-score associated with .4000 in the second column is 1.28, so
80% of the population lie between -1.28 and +1.28. Now the problem is to convert -1.28 and 1.28 to
deviation IQs.
If you read the assignment in the text for this lesson, you may recall that the formula for converting a Z-
score to a T-score is

where 10 is the standard deviation for T scores, Z is the given Z-score, and 50 is
the mean for T-scores.
By analogy then the formula to convert a Z-score to a deviation IQ score would be

We can now use that formula to find the deviation IQ associated with a Z-score of -1.28

and the deviation IQ associated with a Z-score of 1.28

IQ scores, like percentile ranks, are always reported in whole numbers so our two deviation IQs become
81 and 119. So our answer becomes 80% of the population would have deviation IQs between 81 and
119.

24
Correlation as a Descriptive Statistic
In this lesson we will conclude our discussion of descriptive statistics by discussing correlation or the degree to
which two variables are related. For example, if we have scores on a reading test and on a spelling test for a group
of students, what is the relationship between reading performance and spelling performance? Do the students who
score high on reading also score high on spelling and conversely do those who score low on reading also score low
on spelling? Such a relationship is referred to as a high positive correlation between reading and spelling. This
kind of a relationship is shown in Table 1, which shows scores on two tests (reading and spelling) for 10 students.

Table 1 - Reading and Spelling Scores for 10 Students

Student Reading Spelling
1 9 19
2 10 19
3 7 16
4 8 15
5 6 11
6 4 9
7 5 9
8 1 3
9 2 4
10 3 7
In Table 1 we can see that Student 1 has the second to the highest score on reading (9) and the highest score on
spelling (19 - tied with student 2). Students 5 and 6 have intermediate scores on both measures. Student 8 has the
lowest score on both measures with a 1 for reading and a 3 for spelling.
We could also have a negative relationship between two variables in which persons who scored high on one
variable scored low on the other variable and those who scored low on the first variable scored high on the second
variable. This is the situation depicted with scores on reading and spelling for the 10 students shown in Table 2.

Table 2 - Reading and Spelling Scores for 10 Students

Student Reading Spelling
1 2 17
2 1 19
3 3 15
4 4 15
5 6 11
6 5 12
7 8 9
8 7 5
9 10 3
10 9 3

In Table 2 we can see that Student 2 has the lowest score in reading (1), but the highest score in spelling (19).
Student 9, on the other hand, has the highest score on reading (10), but the lowest score on spelling (3 - tied with
Student 10).

25
We could also have the situation in which there was no relationship between the scores on the two variables. We
could refer to this situation as a low degree of correlation or zero correlation. This situation is shown in Table 3
where there does not seem to be any relationship between the 10 students scores in reading and their scores in
spelling.
Table 3 - Reading and Spelling Scores for 10 Students
Student Reading Spelling
1 3 11
2 7 1
3 2 19
4 9 5
5 8 17
6 4 3
7 1 15
8 10 9
9 6 15
10 5 8

In our earlier discussion of descriptive statistics, we found that we can represent our data in a table (tabular repre-
sentation of data), represent our data with a diagram (graphical representation of data), or use a number to repre-
sent the descriptive statistic (numerical representation of data). The three tables we have looked at, showing scores
for 10 students on a reading test and on a spelling test, represent the tabular representation of data. Although it is
possible to get some idea of the degree of association that exists between two variables by looking at tables of the
data, we can see the relationship much more clearly if we use a graphical or numerical representation of the data.

Graphic Representation of Correlation

The graphic that is used to show the relationship between two variables is the scattergram or a scatterplot. A
scatterplot is a diagram (or graph) with two axes, one for each variable. The scatterplot is set up so that the X and
Y axes are approximately of equal length, thus appearing to be square in shape. In the body of the scatterplot each
subject's score on both variables is represented by a dot. For example the data for Table 1 above would yield the
following scatterplot.

26
In this scatterplot we can see that the dot in the lower left hand corner of the diagram represents Student 8 in Table
1 (reading = 1, spelling = 3). The dot in the upper right hand corner of the diagram represents Student 2 with a
reading score of 10 and a spelling score of 19. In this representation of a high positive correlation between the two
variables, we can see that the dots tend to align themselves along a line stretching from the lower left hand corner
to the upper right hand corner of the scatterplot. If this were a perfect positive relationship, the dots would all be
lined up in a straight line extending from the lower left hand corner to the upper right hand corner of the
scatterplot.

The data in Table 2 above, we suggested, represented a negative relationship between the two variables. If we were
to create a scatterplot for this data it would look like the following figure.

These scatterplots or scattergrams can be created with the Excel Spreadsheet Program.

Numeric Representation of Correlation

We have considered the tabular representation of data showing the degree of association that exists between two
variables for a number of subjects (Table 1, Table 2, and Table 3). We have also seen a graphical representation of
this association as we constructed scatterplots for the data of Tables 1, 2, and 3. We will now proceed to look at a
numerical measure of association which is the most frequently used indication of association.

We will consider two major indices of association - the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient for use
with data at the interval or ratio level of measurement, and the Spearman Rank Order Correlation Coefficient for
use with data at the ordinal level of measurement.

Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient

The Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient is the most widely used measure of correlation or
association. It is named after Karl Pearson who developed the correlational method to do agricultural research. The
product moment part of the name comes from the way in which it is calculated, by summing up the products of the
deviations of the scores from the mean.

The symbol for the correlation coefficient is lower case r, and it is described in our textbook as the sum of the
product of the Z-scores for the two variables divided by the number of scores.

27
If we substitute the formulas for the Z-scores into this formula we get the following formula for the Pearson
Product Moment Correlation Coefficient, which we will use as a definitional formula.

The numerator of this formula says that we sum up the products of the deviations of a subject's X score from the
mean of the Xs and the deviation of the subject's Y score from the mean of the Ys. This summation of the product
of the deviation scores is divided by the number of subjects times the standard deviation of the X variable times
the standard deviation of the Y variable.

Let's calculate the correlation between Reading (X) and Spelling (Y) for the 10 students whose scores appeared in
Table 3. There is a fair amount of calculation required as you can see from the table below. First we have to sum
up the X values (55) and then divide this number by the number of subjects (10) to find the mean for the X values
(5.5). Then we have to do the same thing with the Y values to find their mean (10.3).

Correlation Between Reading and Spelling for Data in Table 3 Using the Definitional Formula

Student Reading (X) Spelling (Y)

1 3 11 -2.5 0.7 -1.75

2 7 1 1.5 -9.3 -13.95
3 2 19 -3.5 8.7 -30.45
4 9 5 3.5 -5.3 -18.55
5 8 17 2.5 6.7 16.75
6 4 3 -1.5 -7.3 10.95
7 1 15 -4.5 4.7 -21.15
8 10 9 4.5 -1.3 -5.85
9 6 15 0.5 4.7 2.35
10 5 8 -0.5 -2.3 1.15

Sum 55 103 0.0 -60.5 -60.5

Mean 5.5 10.3
Standard Deviation 2.872 5.832

Then we have to take each X score and subtract the mean from it to find the X deviation score. We can see that
subject 1's X deviation score is -2.5, subject 2's X deviation score is 1.5 etc. We can then use the sum of the X-
deviation scores (0.0) to find the standard deviation of X using the definitional formula for the standard deviation
of a population as we did in the previous section.

We can then find each subject's Y-deviation score. Subject 1's Y deviation score is 0.7 (11 - 10.3) and subject 2's Y
deviation score is -9.3 (1 - 10.3). We then need to sum up the Y-deviation scores (-60.5) and use this quantity to
find the standard deviation for the Y scores.

28
We can then fill in the last column in which we multiply each subject's X deviation score times the same subject's
Y deviation score. For subject 1 this is -1.75 (-2.5 times 0.7) and for subject 2 this is -13.95 (1.5 times -9.3).
Finally if we sum up the last column (X deviation score times Y deviation score) we can use that quantity (-60.5),
along with the standard deviations of the two variables and N, the number of subjects, to calculate the correlation
coefficient.

We have calculated the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient for the association between Reading and
Spelling for the 10 subjects in Table 3. The correlation we obtained was -.36, showing us that there is a small
negative correlation between reading and spelling. The correlation coefficient is a number that can range from -1
(perfect negative correlation) through 0 (no correlation) to 1 (perfect positive correlation).

Shown in the figure below are the scattergrams we prepared earlier for Tables 1, 2, and 3 with the numerical
correlation coefficient indicated for each one.

You can see that it is fairly difficult to calculate the correlation coefficient using the definitional formula. In real
practice we use another formula that is mathematically identical but is much easier to use. This is the computa-
tional or raw score formula for the correlation coefficient. The computational formula for the Pearsonian r is

By looking at the formula we can see that we need the following items to calculate r using the raw score formula:

The number of subjects, N

The sum of each subjects X score times the Y score, summation XY
The sum of the X scores, summation X
The sum of the Y scores, summation Y
The sum of the squared X scores, summation X squared
The sum of the squared Y scores, summation Y squared
Each of these quantities can be found as show in the computation table below:

29
Correlation Between Reading and Spelling for Data in Table 3 Using Computational Formula
Student Reading (X) Spelling (Y)
1 3 11 9 121 33
2 7 1 49 1 7
3 2 19 4 361 38
4 9 5 81 25 45
5 8 17 64 289 136
6 4 3 16 9 12
7 1 15 1 225 15
8 10 9 100 81 90
9 6 15 36 225 90
10 5 8 25 64 40

Sum 55 103 385 1401 506

In we plug each of these sums into the raw score formula we can calculate the correlation coefficient.

We can see that we got the same answer for the correlation coefficient (-.36) with the raw score formula as we did
with the definitional formula.

It is still computationally difficult to find the correlation coefficient, especially if we are dealing with a large
number of subjects. In practice we would probably use a computer to calculate the correlation coefficient. We will
consider using the Excel Spreadsheet Program to Calculate the Correlation Coefficient after we have considered
the Spearman Rank Order Correlation Coefficient.

Spearman Rank Order Correlation Coefficient

When we are dealing with data at the ordinal level, such as ranks, we must use a measure of correlation that is
designed to handle ordinal data. The Spearman Rank Order Correlation Coefficient was developed by Spearman to

30
use with this type of data. The Symbol for the Spearman Rank Order Correlation Coefficient is , r sub s, or the

Greek letter rho ( ).

The formula for the Spearman Correlation Coefficient is:

Where 6 is a constant (it is always used in the formula),

D refers to the difference between a subjects ranks on the two variables,

and N is the number of subjects.

Let's take an example (data from Harris, 1995, page 182) where we have seven subjects whose art projects are
being ranked by two judges, and we wish to know if the two judges rankings are related to one another. In other
words, do the two judges tend to rank the seven art show contestants in the same way?

The following table contains the data for this problem.

Spearman Rho for Rankings of Two Judges of Art Projects for Seven Subjects
Subject Judge A's Ranking Judge B's Ranking
Alan 1 2 -1 1
Beth 2 1 1 1
Carl 3 4 -1 1
Don 4 3 1 1
Edgar 5 6 -1 1
Frances 6 7 -1 1
Gertrude 7 5 2 4

Sum 10

We have included a column for D, the difference between a subjects ranks on the two variables and D squared. We
can then use the sum of the D Squared column and the formula to calculate the Spearman r.

Thus we can see that there is a high positive correlation, but not a perfect correlation between the two judges
ratings.

31
Research Problems and Statistical Inference
We use statistical inference to help us decide if the results of our research are significant, or at least if they are
statistically significant. In general we start out with a research problem and end up with a statistical hypothesis
which we can test by using the proper inferential statistic. The remaining lessons of this course will be a survey of
the most widely used inferential statistics and how to use them properly.

Let's look at some examples of research problems or research questions.

Is the mean GRE score for a sample of 26 students who completed a special test taking program, greater than
the population average of 511?
Is there a significant difference between the job satisfaction of a group of factory workers who are on a fixed
shift system as compared to a group of factory workers who are on rotating shifts?
Is there a significant positive correlation between reading and spelling grades for fifth grade pupils?
These are the kind of problems we want to be able to state statistical hypotheses about and then use inferential
statistics to test.

Inferential Statistics
Statistical Hypotheses

We start out with a research problem or a research questions, such as the examples above, and then we wish to
state the research problem in the form of a statistical hypothesis. We actually use two statistical hypotheses, the
null hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis. In other words given a research question our next task is to state
this question in the form of a null hypothesis and an alternative hypothesis.

The null hypothesis states that a population parameter is equal to some specific value. The symbol for the null
hypothesis is H sub zero, . Null stands for zero hence the symbol. The null hypothesis is also thought of as the
hypothesis of no difference. For example the hypothesis of no difference between the experimental group and the
control group in an experiment.

The alternative hypothesis states that a population parameter is equal to some value other than that stated by the
null hypothesis. The alterative hypothesis is in the direction we would wish our experiment to turn out and thus is
really a statement of the research question in the form of a statistical hypothesis. The symbol for the alternative

hypothesis is H sub 1, , or H sub A, . In these lessons we will use the H1 format although our text uses
the HA format.
To summarize then, given a research problem, if we wish to test the significance of our results, we must state our
research question as a pair of statistical hypotheses. The null hypothesis, H0, states that a population parameter
(usually the mean) is equal to some specific value. The alternative hypothesis, H 1, states that the population
parameter is equal to some value other than that stated by the null hypothesis. Generally the alternative hypothesis
has one of three forms.
The selected parameter is greater than that specified by the null hypothesis.
The selected parameter is less than that specified by the null hypothesis.
The selected parameter is not equal to that specified by the null hypothesis.
This does seem like a rather backward process, stating our result as no result (the null hypothesis) and then
attempting to reject this hypothesis so that we can accept the alternative hypothesis. In 1935, Sir Ronald Fisher
(quoted in Couch, 1987) stated it as follows.

32
"In relation to any experiment we may speak of this hypothesis as the null hypothesis, and it should be noted that
the null hypothesis is never proved or established, but is possibly disproved, in the course of experimentation.
Every experiment may be said to exist only in order to give the facts a chance of disproving the null hypothesis."

The Decision Making Process

As we have seen the process of statistical decision making for research involves setting up a null hypothesis and
then either rejecting or failing to reject the null hypothesis. If we fail to reject the null hypothesis, that is the end of
the process. When we fail to reject the null hypothesis we can say that the results of our experiment are not
significant. We could also say that our results are inconclusive. However, if we reject the null hypothesis, we can
then accept the alternative hypothesis, and indicate that our results were significant. As we mentioned earlier there
are generally three ways we can talk about the significance of the results based on how the alternative hypothesis
was stated.

The experimental group is significantly higher than the control group or the correlation is a significant
positive correlation.
The experimental group is significantly lower than the control group or the correlation is a significant
negative correlation.
The experimental group is significantly different than the control group or the correlation is significant
without regard to direction.
As we will explain in the next section, the last form of the alternative hypothesis is referred to as a two-tailed test
that is it can be significant in either of two directions. The other two options are referred to as one-tailed tests. We
only look for significance in a single direction.
Now let's go back to the case of rejecting or failing to reject the null hypothesis and consider in each case how we
could be correct in our decision or be in error.
First let's take the case in which the null hypothesis, H0, is true (there truly is no difference between the two
groups). In this case if we reject H0 we are making an error. This type of error (rejecting H0 when we shouldn't
have) is referred to as a type I error. It is also referred to as the alpha level or significance level of the experiment.
This type of error can be controlled by the experimenter as he or she sets the significance level of the experiment.
A common level for alpha is .05 or the 5% level. Another way of thinking of the alpha level is that it is the
probability of making a type I error. So if we set we are saying that we are willing to make a type I
error 5% of the time.
On the other hand, if we fail to reject H0 when it is in fact true, we are making the correct decision. With alpha at .
05 we would expect to do so 95% of the time.
Now let's take the case where the true status of the null hypothesis is false. In that case we should reject it. To
reject a false H0 is the correct decision. On the other hand if H0 is false and we fail to reject it then we are making
an error. This type of error (failing to reject H0 when we should have rejected it) is referred to as a type II error.
Beta is used as the symbol for the probability of making a type II error. Beta, the probability of making a type two
error, can not be set by the experimenter as can the alpha level, but beta is related to alpha. The higher the alpha
level is set (here we mean a less probable setting, .01 is higher than .05, and .001 is higher than .01) the more
likely it is that we will make a type II error (or the higher the beta level is). The lower the alpha level (.05 rather
than .01) the less likely we are to make a type II error. We are in somewhat of a dilemma here. If we set alpha high
then we are less likely to make a type I error but are more likely to make a type II error. On the other hand if we
set the alpha level low we are more likely to make a type I error but less likely to make a type II error.
I know this is confusing to the potential researcher, but one way of getting around it is just to set your alpha level
at .05 (and not at .01 or .001). In this way you are balancing the relationship between type I and type II errors in
your decision making process.

The information we have discussed is summarized in the following table.

33
 Null Hypothesis Decision Table
True Status of Null Hypothesis
H0 is True H0 is False
Type I Error Correct
Reject H0
level Decision
Decision Type II Error
Fail to Correct
Reject H0 Decision
level

As a final thought we might also add that although we can not control type II error (beta level) directly except by
lowering the alpha level, different statistics, at the same alpha level are more resistant to causing type II error. This
characteristic of a statistic is called the power of a statistic. A more powerful statistic is less likely to yield a type
II error. The power of a statistic is one minus beta, it is the tendency of a statistic not to make a type II error.

Power = 1 -
The Process of Testing Statistical Hypotheses
Now that we have looked at the decision making process with regard to rejecting or failing to reject H0 let's look at
the entire process of testing statistical hypotheses. This is a process consisting of the following seven steps:
State H0 and H1 based on your research question.

Set the alpha level (e.g. )

Collect data for the study and calculate the value of the appropriate statistic. Statistic =
Decision Rule: Write a rule for rejecting H0.
Write a summary statement based on the decision.
Generally this summary rule is either reject H0 or fail to reject H0. In the case of reject H0, you would also
indicate the alpha level in the form, p < .05, and indicate if the test is one-tailed or two-tailed. If the
decision is fail to reject H0, information on alpha level and number of tails does not need to be given.
Statement of results: Write the decision in standard English.
Now let's apply this process to an example. For our example we will use the case in which a single score is
compared to a population value (the population mean). This is not the typical situation you would use in research
(you can not usually base a study on a single observation), but it will illustrate all of the steps. For the rest of the
course we will be considering the most widely used inferential statistics and going through this process with each
of them.
Sample research problem: Your friend has an IQ of 118. Is this IQ greater than the population mean of 100? Note:
the population standard deviation is 15.

X = 118
The only data we have to collect is the individual's IQ score (X = 118).

34
 The appropriate statistic to compare an individual with the mean is the Z-score test (or the Z-score). We
calculate that to be 1.2
Rule for rejecting H0:

reject H0 if
To determine the Z score value that will cause us to reject H0, we use the table in Appendix A of the
textbook for the course, Z Scores and Percentage of Area under the Normal Curve Between any
given Z-Score and the Mean. Since our alpha level is .05 we want to find the Z-Score in the table that
would have 5% of the scores higher than it. Looking under column 2 of the table (Area from Mean to) for
.45 we find that the associated Z-Score in column 1 is 1.64
Decision: fail to reject H0
If our calculated value of Z was greater than (or equal to) 1.64 we would reject H0, however since its
value of 1.2 is not greater than or equal to 1.64 we fail to reject H0.
Statement of Results: Our friend does not have an IQ that is significantly higher than the population mean of
100.

Activity in Stating Statistical Hypotheses

For each of the following research problems, state the null hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis.

Sample one bottle to see if the beer machine is putting too much beer in the bottle. = 16.02 ounces.
In this problem we are taking a sample of one observation and seeing how it compares with the
population value. We are only interested in the case where the machine is putting too much beer into the
bottle so our alternative hypothesis will only involve the greater than case. Our two hypotheses for this
problem are:

Is the mean time for running the mile for a group of 20 joggers undergoing a fitness program significantly less

than the population value of 10 minutes ( )?

In this research problem we are comparing the mean time for a group of joggers with a known population
mean. So our null hypothesis will be

There are three possibilities for the alternative hypothesis.

The joggers mean is less than the population mean.
The joggers mean is greater than the population mean.
The joggers mean is not equal to the population mean, that is to say that it could either by less than or
be greater than.
In this particular case we are concerned with the joggers time being less than the population value so our
alternative hypothesis would be:

35
 Is there a significant difference is tested IQ between a group of students who have taken a special program
aimed at changing cognitive functioning as compared with a matched control group who did not
participate in the special program?
In this problem, a very common one in research, we are comparing the means of two groups, an
experimental group and a control group. In this case the null hypothesis would be stated as

Again, there are three possibilities for the alternative hypothesis.

The mean of the first group is higher than that of the second group.
The mean of the first group is lower than that of the second group.
The mean of the first group is different than the mean of the second group.
Since we are interested in the case where there is a significant difference between the two groups we
would select the third option and the alternative hypothesis would be

Is there a significant correlation between reading and spelling for fifth grade pupils?
In this research problem we are dealing with the significance of a correlation coefficient. We have a
single group of students measured on two variables (reading and spelling). The null hypothesis, the
hypothesis of no difference, would be that the correlation is zero. The Greek letter rho is used to represent
the population correlation, so the null hypothesis would be

In this problem we are asking if there is a significant correlation between reading and spelling. We did not
specify whether we wanted a significant positive correlation or a significant negative correlation. Thus
our alternative hypothesis would look for a correlation that was significantly different than zero in either
direction or significantly not equal to zero. The alternative hypothesis for this problem would be

Introduction to Single Sample Tests

In our last lesson we looked at the process for making inferences about research. In this context we looked at the
significance of a single score. We wanted to see if a score differed significantly from a population value. To test
statistical hypotheses involving a single score we calculated the scores Z-score. We referred to this as the Z-score
test. As a reminder the formula for the Z-score (or the Z-score test) was

In this lesson we are going to move on and look at inferential statistics to test hypotheses concerned with
comparing a single sample (instead of a single score) with some population parameter. We will discuss two
statistics to use with single samples.

1. We may wish to compare a sample mean with the population mean when the population standard
deviation is known. In that case we will use the Z-test. Do not confuse the Z-test (used for a single
sample) with the Z-score test (used with a single score).
2. If we wish to compare a sample mean with the population mean when the population standard deviation
is not known we use the one-sample t-test.

36
The Z-test

Research Problem: We randomly select a group of 9 subjects from a population with a mean IQ of 100 and
standard deviation of 15 ( , ).
We give the subjects intensive "Get Smart" training and then administer an IQ test. The sample mean IQ is 113 and
the sample standard deviation is 10. Did the training result in a significant increase in IQ score?

In this problem we see that we have a single sample and we wish to compare the sample mean with a population
mean. We know what the population standard deviation is. From what we have said we can see that the inferential
statistic we need to use here is the Z-test.

The formula for the Z-test is

Where is the sample mean (113 in our problem)

is the sampling distribution of the mean.

The sampling distribution of the mean is the mean of a set of many sample means taken from a population. It is
the mean of all the means. In practice the sampling distribution of the mean is the same as the population mean, so

we can use instead of . In our problem the population mean is 100.

is the standard error of the mean. It is the standard deviation of many sample means. Unfortunately for us
the standard error of the mean does not equal the population standard deviation but instead is equal to the
population standard deviation (sigma) divided by the square root of the sample size (n). So for our problem

We are now ready to calculate the value of Z for our problem. We have all the information we need:

1. The sample mean = 113

2. The sampling distribution of the mean, which equals the population mean = 100
3. The standard error of the mean, which is the population standard deviation divided by the square root of
the sample size = 5

So the value of Z for our problem is

We can now go ahead and complete the six step process for testing statistical hypotheses for our research problem.

37
The one-sample t-test

Consider the following research problem: We have a random sample of 25 fifth grade pupils who can do 15
pushups on the average, with a standard deviation of 9, after completing a special physical education program.
Does this value of 15 differ significantly from the population value of 12?
In this problem we are comparing a sample mean with a population mean but we do not know the population
standard deviation. We can't use the Z-test in this case but we can use the one-sample t-test. The one sample t-test
does not require the population standard deviation. The formula for the one-sample t-test is

Where is the sample mean,

is the population mean,

and is the sample estimate of the standard error of the mean.

In the problem we are considering, we do not know the population standard deviation (or the standard error of the
mean) so we estimate it from the sample data. The sample estimate of the standard error of the mean is based on S
(the sample standard deviation) and the square root of n (the sample size).

If you look back at the research problem you will see that we have all the data we need to calculate the value of t.

The sample mean, is 15.

The population mean, is 12.

The sample standard deviation, S is 9.
The sample size, n is 25.
We can thus calculate the value of t as follows:

The t statistic is not distributed normally like the z statistic is but is distributed as (guess what) the t-distribution,
also referred to as student's distribution. We will use this distribution when we do the six step process for testing
statistical hypothesis. To use the table for the t-distribution we need to know one other piece of information and
that is the degrees of freedom for the one sample t-test.

38
Degrees of freedom is a mathematical concept that involves the amount of freedom you have to substitute various
values in an equation. For example say we have three numbers that add up to 44. For the first two numbers we are
free to use any numbers we wish but when we get to the third number we do not have any freedom of choice if the
sum is to be 44. Therefore we say that with the three numbers we have two degrees of freedom.

For the one-sample t statistic the degrees of freedom (df) are equal to the sample size minus 1, or for our research
problem:

To put all this information together go ahead and look at the example problem using the one-sample t-test.

Example problem using the Z-test in the process to test statistical hypotheses for a
research problem

Research Problem: We randomly select a group of 9 subjects from a population with a mean IQ of 100 and

standard deviation of 15 ( , ).
We give the subjects intensive "Get Smart" training and then administer an IQ test. The sample mean IQ is 113 and
the sample standard deviation is 10. Did the training result in a significant increase in IQ score?

The research question for this experiment is - Does training subjects with the Get Smart training program, increase
their IQ significantly over the average IQ for the general population? We will use the six step process to test
statistical hypotheses for this research problem.

1. State null hypothesis and alternative hypothesis:

2. Set the alpha level:

3. Calculate the value of the proper statistic:

Since this problem involves comparing a single group's mean with the population mean and the standard
deviation for the population is known, the proper statistical test to use is the Z-test.
Z = 2.6
4. State the rule for rejecting the null hypothesis:
We need to find the value of Z that will only be exceeded 5% of the time since we have set our alpha
level at .05. Since the Z score is normally distributed (or has the Z distribution), we can find this 5% level
by looking at the table in Appendix A in the textbook. We look for .45 in column 2 (area from the mean to
Z) since that point would have 5% of the scores at or higher than it. The associated Z-score would be 1.64
(or 1.65).

Our rejection rule then would be: Reject H0 if .

5. Decision: Reject H0, p < .05, one-tailed.

39
 Our decision rule said reject H0 if the Z value is equal to or greater than 1.64. Our Z value was 2.6 and 2.6
is greater than 1.64 so we reject H0. We also add to the decision the alpha level (p < .05) and the
tailedness of the test (one-tailed).
6. Statement of results: The average IQ of the group taking the Get Smart training program is significantly
higher than that of the general population.
If we reject the null hypothesis, we accept the alternative hypothesis. The statement of results then states
the alternative hypothesis which is the research question stated in the affirmative manner.
We mentioned that we use the Z-test to compare the mean of a sample with the population mean when the
population standard deviation is known. We will now turn to the statistic to use when the standard deviation of the
population is not know, the one-sample t-test.

Example problem using the one-sample t-test in the process to test statistical
hypotheses for a research problem

Research Problem: We have a random sample of 25 fifth grade pupils who can do 15 pushups on the average, with
a standard deviation of 9, after completing a special physical education program. Does this value of 15 differ
significantly from the population value of 12?
The research question for this experiment is - Does having students complete a special physical education program
result in a significantly different number of pushups they can do, as compared with the population average? We
will use the six step process to test statistical hypotheses for this research problem.
1. State null hypothesis and alternative hypothesis:

In this problem the research question does not indicate the desired direction of the result, so the
alternative hypothesis will use the not equal choice. This means that a significant result could either be
significantly greater than the population value or significantly less than the population value.
2. Set the alpha level:

3. Calculate the value of the proper statistic:

Since this problem involves comparing a single group's mean with the population mean and the standard
deviation for the population is not known, the proper statistical test to use is the one-sample t-test.
t = 1.667
df = 24
4. State the rule for rejecting the null hypothesis:
We need to find the value of t that will only be exceeded 5% of the time in either direction if we set the
alpha level at .05. So that means we will be looking for the upper 2.5% of the distribution and the lower
2.5% of the distribution (2.5 + 2.5 = 5%). In other words we will be using a two-tailed test. To find the
significant values of t we use the table in Appendix C of the text book (page 318 - Distribution of t). If we
enter the table under the heading "Level of significance for two-tailed test" and .05 we read down the
column until we come to the row that has 24 degrees of freedom (See df column to the left of the table).
We see that the table value of t is 2.064, so this is the value we will use for our rejection rule.

Our rejection rule then would be: Reject H0 if t or if t -2.064

Look at this rejection rule carefully as this is the general way to state the rejection rule for a two-tailed
test.

40
 5. Decision: Fail to reject H0
Since the calculated value of t (1.667) is not greater than 2.064 nor less than -2.064, we can not reject the
null hypothesis.
Since our decision was to fail to reject H0, we do not have to add the alpha level or the tailedness of the
test as we did when we rejected H0.
6. Statement of results: The number of pushups done by a group of fifth grade pupils who have participated
in a special physical education program, does not, differ significantly from the population average.

Introduction to Two Sample Tests

In our last lesson we looked at inferential statistics to test hypotheses concerned with comparing a single sample
with some population parameter. We discussed two statistics to use with single samples.
We used the Z-test to compare a sample mean with the population mean when the population standard
deviation was known.
We used the one-sample t-test to compare a sample mean with the population mean when the population
standard deviation was not known.
In this lesson we are going to consider the first of two very important and widely used t-tests to compare the
means of two groups or two samples. This is a very common problem to compare the means of, for example, the
experimental group and the control group on some independent variable.
The two-sample t-tests we will consider are
1. The independent t-test which is used to compare two sample means when the two samples are
independent of one another.
2. The non-independent or dependent t-test which is used for matched samples (where the two samples are
not independent of one another as they are matched) and for pre-test/post-test comparisons where the pre-
test and post-test are taken on the same group of subjects.

In this lesson we will consider the independent t-test, and in the next lesson we will consider the dependent t-test.

The independent t-test

The independent t-test, as we have already mentioned is used when we wish to compare the statistical significance
of a possible difference between the means of two groups on some independent variable and the two groups are
independent of one another.

The formula for the independent t-test is

where

is the mean for group 1,

is the mean for group 2,

41
 is the sum of squares for group 1,

is the sum of squares for group 2,

n1 is the number of subjects in group 1, and
n2 is the number of subjects in group 2.
The sum of squares is a new way of looking at variance. It gives us an indication of how spread out the scores in a
sample are. The t-value we are finding is the difference between the two means divided by their sum of squares
and taking the degrees of freedom into consideration.

and

We can see that each sum of squares is the sum of the squared scores in the sample minus the sum of the scores
quantity squared divided by the size of the sample (n).

So to calculate the independent-t value we need to know:

1. The mean for sample or group 1

2. The mean for sample or group 2
3. The summation X and summation X squared for group 1
4. The summation X and summation X squared for group 2
5. The sample size for group 1 (n1)
6. The sample size for group 2 (n2)

We also need to know the degrees of freedom for the independent t-test which is:

Let's do a sample problem using the independent t-test.

Example problem using the independent t-test

Research Problem: Job satisfaction as a function of work schedule was investigated in two different factories. In
the first factory the employees are on a fixed shift system while in the second factory the workers have a rotating
shift system. Under the fixed shift system, a worker always works the same shift, while under the rotating shift
system, a worker rotates through the three shifts. Using the scores below determine if there is a significant
difference in job satisfaction between the two groups of workers.

42
Work Satisfaction Scores for Two Groups of Workers
Fixed Shift Rotating Shift
79 63
83 71
68 46
59 57
81 53
76 46
80 57
74 76
58 52
49 68
68 73

In this problem we see that we have two samples and the samples are independent of one another. We can see that
the inferential statistic we need to use here is the independent t-test.

We can calculate the quantities we need to solve this problem as follows:

Worksheet to calculate independent t-test value.

X1 (X1)2 X2 (X2)2
79 6241 63 3969
83 6889 71 5041
68 4624 46 2116
59 3481 57 3249
81 6561 53 2809
76 5776 46 2116
80 6400 57 3249
74 5476 76 5776
58 3364 52 2704
49 2401 68 4624
68 4 624 73 5329
------ ------ ------ ------
775 55837 662 40982

We can use the totals from this worksheet and the number of subjects in each group to calculate the sum of squares
for group 1, the sum of squares for group 2, the mean for group 1, the mean for group 2, and the value for the
independent t.

<>

43
 <>

We now have the information we need to complete the six step statistical inference process for our research
problem.

1. State the null hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis based on your research question.

Note: Our problem did not state which direction of significance we will be looking for; therefore we will
be looking for a significant difference between the two means in either direction.
2. Set the alpha level.

Note: As usual we will set our alpha level at .05, we have 5 chances in 100 of making a type I error.
3. Calculate the value of the appropriate statistic. Also indicate the degrees of freedom for the
statistical test if necessary.
t = 2.209

44
 df = n1 + n2 - 2 = 11 + 11 - 2 = 20
Note: We have calculated the t-value and will also need to know the degrees of freedom when we go to
look up the critical values of t.
4. Write the decision rule for rejecting the null hypothesis.
Reject H0 if t is >= 2.086 or if t <= -2.086
Note: To write the decision rule we need to know the critical value for t, with an alpha level of .05 and a
two-tailed test. We can do this by looking at Appendix C (Distribution of t) on page 318 of the text book.
Look for the column of the table under .05 for Level of significance for two-tailed tests, read down the
column until you are level with 20 in the df column, and you will find the critical value of t which is
2.086. That means our result is significant if the calculated t value is less than or equal to -2.086 or is
greater than or equal to 2.086.
5. Write a summary statement based on the decision.
Reject H0, p < .05, two-tailed
Note: Since our calculated value of t (2.209) is greater than or equal to 2.086, we reject the null
hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis.
6. Write a statement of results in standard English.
There is a significant difference in job satisfaction between the two groups of workers.

Additional problem using the independent t-test

Let's do an additional problem involving the independent t test, to make certain that we know how to do it. For this
problem lets use one from the textbook and see if we get the same answer as the text did. The problem is on pages
179-184 of the text.

Research Problem: A new test preparation company, called Bright Future (BF), wants to convince high school
students studying for the American College Testing (ACT) assessment test that enrolling in their test preparation
course would significantly improve the students' ACT scores. BF selects 10 students at random and assigns five to
the experimental group and five to the control group. The experimental group students participate in the test
preparation course conducted by BF. At the conclusion of the course, both groups of students take the ACT test
form which was given to high school students the previous year. BF conducts a t-test for independent samples to
compare the scores of Group 1 (Experimental, E) to those of Group 2 (Control, C).

ACT Scores of Experimental and Control Groups

Experimental Group Control Group
23 17
18 19
26 21
32 14
21 19

Let's put this data into an Excel Worksheet and then calculate the value of the independent t:

Looking at the data we calculated we can see the the means for the two groups (24 and 18) are the same as those
reported in the text. The value of t Stat is 2.25175988 which we can round off to 2.252, which is similar to the
value reported in the text as 2.26. Since this problem is concerned only with the Experimental Group having a
higher mean than the Control Group, it would be a one-tailed test and we can read the critical value of t in the t
Critical one-tail row as 1.85954832 which rounds off to 1.860, which is the same value reported in the text.

We have all the information we need to complete the six step statistical inference process:

45
 State the null hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis based on your research question.

Set the alpha level.

Calculate the value of the appropriate statistic. Also indicate the degrees of freedom for the statistical
test if necessary.
t = 2.252
df = n1 + n2 - 2 = 5 + 5 - 2 = 8

Write the decision rule for rejecting the null hypothesis.

Reject H0 if t is >= 1.860

Write a summary statement based on the decision.

Reject H0, p < .05, one-tailed

Write a statement of results in standard English.

Students who participated in the test-taking course, scored significantly higher on the practice form of the
ACT, than did the control group of students.

The Dependent t-test

In our last lesson we looked at the process for making inferences about research involving two samples. We
discussed the independent t-test used when the two samples were independent of one another. In this lesson we are
going to discuss the case in which the two samples are not independent of one another or are dependent on one
another. There are two situations in which the two samples are not independent:
Where the subjects making up the two samples are matched on some variable before being put in the two
groups.
For example we might wish to conduct an experiment measuring the effect of a new method of teaching
reading on reading comprehension test scores. However we are concerned about the effect of intelligence on
reading comprehension test scores, so we control for intelligence by matching the students in the study on
intelligence. We give all the subjects to participate in the study an intelligence test. Then we take the two
students with the highest IQ and randomly put one of the two in the experimental group and the other in the
control group. We then take the two children with the next highest intelligence and do the same thing until we
have selected our two groups but they are matched on the factor of tested intelligence.
The situation where the two groups are the same subjects administered a pre-test and a post-test.
For example we want to study the effect of a new teaching method on reading comprehension scores so we
administer a reading comprehension test to the group (pretest), then we apply the experimental teaching
method to the group of students, and follow this by administering a reading comprehension test to the students
again (the post test). We then see if there is a significant difference between the pre-test scores and the post-
test scores.
When subjects are connected to one another by either of these methods the variance is constrained, so when we
use a statistical test to measure the significance of a difference between the means we must use a test that takes
into consideration these constrained variances. This is what the dependent t-test does.
The formula for the dependent t is:

46
Where D is the difference between pairs of scores,

Notice that we subtract the score for the first X from the paired second X. This is probably so that when we are
finding the difference between the pre-test and post-test, that we subtract the pre-test (X 1) from the post-test (X2).
and the degrees of freedom for the dependent-t test is

df = n - 1
and

n
is the number pairs of subjects in the study.

Example problem using the dependent t-test

Research Problem: The Beck Depression Scale (pre-test) was administered to ten adolescents undergoing anger
management therapy. After four weeks of therapy the same scale was administered again (post-test). Does the
anger management therapy significantly reduce the scores on the depression scale?
In this problem we are comparing pre-test and post-test scores for a group of subjects. This would be an
appropriate situation for the dependent t-test.
The pre-test and post-test scores, as well as D and D2 are shown in the following table.

Pre and Post-Test Scores for 10 Adolescents on the Beck Depression Scale
Pre-Test Post-Test D
D2
(X1) (X2) (X2-X1)
14 0 -14 196
6 0 -6 36
4 3 -1 1
15 20 5 25
3 0 -3 9
3 0 -3 9
6 1 -5 25
5 1 -4 16
6 1 -5 25
3 0 -3 9
----- ----- ----- -----
-39 351

For our problem:

47
and the degrees of freedom for this problem is:

We now have the information we need to complete the six step process for testing statistical hypotheses for our
research problem.

State the null hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis based on your research question.

Note: Our problem stated that the therapy would decrease the depression score. Therefore our alternative
hypothesis states that mu1 (the pre-test score) will be greater than mu2 (the post-test score).
Set the alpha level.

Note: As usual we will set our alpha level at .05, we have 5 chances in 100 of making a type I error.
Calculate the value of the appropriate statistic. Also indicate the degrees of freedom for the statistical
test if necessary.
t = -2.623
df = n - 1 = 10 - 1 = 9
Note: We have calculated the t-value and will also need to know the degrees of freedom when we go to
look up the critical value of t.
Write the decision rule for rejecting the null hypothesis.
Reject H0 if t is <= -1.833
Note: To write the decision rule we need to know the critical value for t, with an alpha level of .05 and a
one-tailed test. We can do this by looking at Appendix C (Distribution of t) on page 318 of the text book.
Look for the column of the table under .05 for Level of significance for one-tailed tests, read down the
column until you are level with 9 in the df column, and you will find the critical value of t which is 1.833.
That means our result is significant if the calculated t value is less than or equal to -1.833.

Note: Why are we looking for a negative value of t? This is a little tricky, but we are looking at the
posttest being less than the pretest. Now the dependent t is calculated by subtracting the pretest from the
posttest so if the posttest is actually less than the pretest, posttest minus pretest will be a negative quantity.
I hope this makes sense to you. If not send me email (wasson@mhd1.moorhead.msus.edu) and I will try
to clarify it further.
Write a summary statement based on the decision.
Reject H0, p < .05, one-tailed
Note: Since our calculated value of t (-2.623) is less than or equal to -1.833, we reject the null hypothesis
and accept the alternative hypothesis.
Write a statement of results in standard English.
The management therapy did significantly reduce the depression scores for the adolescents.

48
Additional problem using the dependent t-test

Let's do an additional problem involving the dependent t test, to make certain that we know how to do it. For this
problem lets use one from the textbook. The problem we will now do is on pages 184-186 of the text.

Research Problem: A special program, developed to enhance children's self-concept, is implemented with four-
and five-year-old children in Sunny Days Preschool. The intervention lasts six weeks and involves various
activities in the class and at home. All the children in the program are pretested and posttested using the Purdue
Self-Concept Scale for Preschool Children (PSCS). The test is comprised of a series of 40 pairs of pictures, and
scores can range from 0 to 40. The dependent t test will be used to test the hypothesis that students would improve
significantly on the posttest, compared with their pretest scores.

Pretest and Posttest Scores of Six Students

Pretest Posttest
31 34
30 31
33 33
35 40
32 36
34 39

Let's put this data into an Excel Worksheet and then calculate the value of the dependent t:

Looking at the data we calculated we can see that the value of the dependent t Stat is 3.50324525 which we can
round off to 3.503 (which is the same answer found in the textbook). The probability for this result is .00861227,
which is less than .01, however since we are going to set our alpha level at .05, we will say that p < .05, rather than
that p = .00861227. We can also see that the critical value for t is 2.01504918 which we will round off to 2.015.

49
We have all the information we need to complete the six step statistical inference process:

State the null hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis based on your research question.

Set the alpha level.

Calculate the value of the appropriate statistic. Also indicate the degrees of freedom for the statistical
test if necessary.
t = 3.503
df = n - 1 = 6 - 1 = 5
Write the decision rule for rejecting the null hypothesis.
Reject H0 if t is >= 2.015
Write a summary statement based on the decision.
Reject H0, p < .05, one-tailed
Write a statement of results in standard English.
Students who participated in the test-taking course, scored significantly higher on the practice form of the
ACT, than did the control group of students.

Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)

In our last three lessons we discussed setting up statistical tests in a variety of situations:
1. If we are making inferences about a single score we can use the z-score test.
2. If we are making inferences about a single sample we can use the z-test (if we know the population
variance) or the single sample t-test (if we do not know the population variance).
3. If we are making inferences about two samples we can use the independent t-test (if the two samples are
independent of one another) or the dependent t-test (if the two samples are related to one another as in
matched samples or a pre-test post-test situation).
When we wish to look at differences among three or more sample means, we use a statistical test called analysis of
variance or ANOVA. Analysis of variance yields a statistic, F, which indicates if there is a significant difference
among three or more sample means. When conducting an analysis of variance, we divide the variance (or
spreadoutedness) of the scores into two components.
1. The variance between groups, that is the variability among the three or more group means.
2. The variance within the groups, or how the individual scores within each group vary around the mean of
the group.
We measure these variances by calculating SSB, the sum of squares between groups, and SSW, the sum of squares
within groups.
Each of these sum of squares is divided by its degrees of freedom, (dfB, degrees of freedom between, and dfW,
degrees of freedom within) to calculate the mean square between groups, MSB, and the mean square within
groups, MSW.
finally we calculate F, the F-ratio, which is the ratio of the mean square between groups to the mean square within
groups. We then test the significance of F to complete our analysis of variance.
Let's look at the formula's for, and the calculation of each of these quantities in the context of a sample problem.

50
Example problem using One-way Analysis of Variance

Three groups of students, 5 in each group, were receiving therapy for severe test anxiety. Group 1 received 5 hours
of therapy, group 2 - 10 hours and group 3 - 15 hours. At the end of therapy each subject completed an evaluation
of test anxiety (the dependent variable in the study). Did the amount of therapy have an effect on the level of test
anxiety?

The three groups of students received the following scores on the Test Anxiety Index (TAI) at the end of treatment.

TAI Scores for Three Groups of Students

Group 1 - 5 hours Group 2 - 10 hours Group 3 - 15 hours
48 55 51
50 52 52
53 53 50
52 55 53
50 53 50

The following table contains the quantities we need to calculate the means for the three groups, the sum of
squares, and the degrees of freedom:

Worksheet for Test Anxiety Study

Group 1 - 5 hours Group 2 - 10 hours Group 3 - 15 hours
X1 (X1)2 X2 (X2)2 X3 (X3)2
48 2304 55 3025 51 2601
50 2500 52 2704 52 2704
53 2809 53 2809 50 2500
52 2704 55 3025 53 2809
50 2500 53 2809 50 2500
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
253 12817 268 14372 256 13114

The mean for group 1 is 253/5 = 50.6, the mean for group 2 is 268/5 = 53.6, and the mean for group 3 is 256/5 =
51.2
Is the differences between these three means significant? We can use analysis of variance to answer that question.
Since we only have one independent variable, amount of therapy, we will use one-way analysis of variance. If we
were concerned with the effect of two independent variables on the dependent variable, then we would use two-
way analysis of variance.
First we will calculate SSB, the sum of squares between groups, where X1 is a score from Group 1, X2 is a score
from Group 2, X3 is a score from Group 3, n1 is the number of subjects in group 1, n2 is the number of subjects in
group 2, n3 is the number of subjects in group 3, XT is a score from any subject in the total group of subjects, and
NT is the total number of subjects in all groups.

51
The degrees of freedom between groups is:
dfB = K - 1 = 3 - 1 = 2
Where K is the number of groups.
Next we calculate SSW, the sum of squares within groups.

The degrees of freedom within groups is:

dfW = NT - K = 15 - 3 = 12
Where NT is the total number of subjects.
Finally, we will calculate SST, the total sum of squares.

As a check SST = SSB + SSW

54.4 = 25.2 + 29.2

We can now calculate MSB, the mean square between groups, MSW, the mean square within groups, and F, the F
ratio.

52
To test the significance of the F value we obtained, we need to compare it with the critical F value with an alpha
level of .05, 2 degrees of freedom between groups (or degrees of freedom in the numerator of the F ratio), and 12
degrees of freedom within groups (or degrees of freedom in the denominator of the F ratio). We can look up the
critical value of F in Appendix (the Distribution of F). Look in the table under column 2 (2 degrees of freedom for
the numerator) and row 12 (12 degrees of freedom for the denominator) and read the entry (for .05 level) of 3.88 -
this is the critical value for F.

One way of indicating this critical value of F at the .05 level, with 2 degrees of freedom between groups and 12
degrees of freedom within groups is

F.05(2,12) = 3.88

When using analysis of variance, it is a common practice to present the results of the analysis in an analysis of
variance table. This table which shows the source of variation, the sum of squares, the degrees of freedom, the
mean squares, and the probability is sometimes presented in a research article. The analysis of variance table for
our problem would appear as follows:

Analysis of Variance Table

Source of Sum of Degrees of Mean
F Ratio p
Variation Squares Freedom Square
Between Groups 25.20 2 12.60 5.178 <.05
Within Groups 29.20 12 2.43
Total 54.40 14

We now have the information we need to complete the six step process for testing statistical hypotheses for our
research problem. We will also be adding another analysis of the individual means.

State the null hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis based on your research question.

Note: Our null hypothesis, for the F test, states that there are no differences among the three means. The
alternate hypothesis states that there are significant differences among some or all of the individual
means. An unequivocal way of stating this is not H0.
Set the alpha level.

Note: As usual we will set our alpha level at .05, we have 5 chances in 100 of making a type I error.
Calculate the value of the appropriate statistic. Also indicate the degrees of freedom for the statistical
test if necessary.
F(2,12) = 5.178
Note: We have indicated the value of F from our analysis of variance table. We have also indicated by
(2,12) that there are 2 degrees of freedom between groups, and 12 degrees of freedom within groups.

53
 Write the decision rule for rejecting the null hypothesis.
Reject H0 if F is >= 3.88
Note: To write the decision rule we had to know the critical value for F, with an alpha level of .05, 2
degrees of freedom in the numerator (df between groups) and 12 degrees of freedom in the denominator
(df within groups). We can do this by looking at Appendix (Distribution of F) and noting the tabled value
for the .05 level in the column for 2 df and the row for 12 df.
Write a summary statement based on the decision.
Reject H0, p < .05
Note: Since our calculated value of F (5.178) is greater than 3.88, we reject the null hypothesis and accept
the alternative hypothesis.
Write a statement of results in standard English.
There is a significant difference among the scores the three groups of students received on the Test
Anxiety Index.

In the problem above, we rejected the null hypothesis and found that there is indeed a significant difference among
the three cell means. We know that Group 1 had the lowest mean (50.6), while group 3 had a higher mean (51.2)
while group 2 had the highest mean of all (53.6). We would like to know which of these differences in means are
significant. We can analyze the significance of the difference between pairs of means in analysis of variance by the
use of post hoc (after the fact) comparisons. We only do these post hoc comparisons when there is a significant F
ratio. It would make no sense to look for differences with a post hoc test if no differences exist. In the next section
we will make these comparisons by a method know as the Scheffe Test.

Making Post Hoc Comparisons Among Pairs of Means with the Scheffe Test

In analysis of variance, if F is significant, we can use the Scheffe test to see which specific cell mean differs from
which other specific cell mean. To do this we calculate an F ratio for the difference between the means of two cells
and then test the significance of this F value.

We calculate F12 to see if there is a significant difference between the means of groups 1 and 2.
We calculate F13 to see if there is a significant difference between the means of groups 1 and 3.
We calculate F23 to see if there is a significant difference between the means of groups 2 and 3.
The formulas for these tests and their application to the anova problem we just finished are:

54
Summary of Scheffe Test Results
Group One versus Group Two 4.63
Group One versus Group Three 0.18
Group Two versus Group Three 2.96
We compare these values with the critical value for F.05(2,12) = 3.88, and note that the only significant difference
is between group one and group two (4.62 is greater than 3.88)
Now that we know how to conduct an ad hoc analysis of the significance of the differences between pairs of group
means, we should modify steps 3 and 6 of our hypothesis testing strategy to include the results of the post hoc
analysis.
The amended steps 3 and 6 are as follows:

Step 3: Calculate the value of the appropriate statistic. Also indicate the degrees of freedom for the statistical
test if necessary.
F(2,12) = 5.178, value of the F ratio
F.05(2,12) = 3.88, critical value of F
F12 = 4.630, Scheffe test value for comparing means 1 and 2
F13 = 0.185, Scheffe test value for comparing means 1 and 3
F23 = 2.963, Scheffe test value for comparing means 2 and 3

Step 6: Write a statement of results in standard English.

There is a significant difference among the scores the three groups of students received on the Test Anxiety Index.
Group 1 (the five hour therapy group) has a significantly lower score on the TAI than does Group 2 (the ten hour
therapy group).

55
Chi-Square
All of the inferential statistics we have covered in past lessons, are what are called parametric statistics. To use
these statistics we make some assumptions about the distributions they come from, such as they are normally
distributed. With parametric statistics we also deal with data for the dependent variable that is at the interval or
ratio level of measurement, i.e. test scores, physical measurements.

The parametric statistics we have discussed so for in this course are:

the Z-score test
the Z-test
the single-sample t-test
the independent t-test
the dependent t-test
one-sample analysis of variance (ANOVA)
We will now consider a widely used non-parametric test, chi-square, which we can use with data at the nominal
level, that is data that is classificatory. For example, we know the frequency with which entering freshman, when
required to purchase a computer for college use, select Macintosh Computers, IBM Computers, or Some other
brand of computer. We want to know if there is a difference among the frequencies with which these three brands
of computers are selected or if they choose basically equally among the three brands. This is a problem we can use
the chi-square statistic for.

The chi-square statistic is used to compare the observed frequency of some observation (such as frequency of
buying different brands of computers) with an expected frequency (such as buying equal numbers of each brand
of computer). The comparison of observed and expected frequencies is used to calculate the value of the chi-
square statistic, which in turn can be compared with the distribution of chi-square to make an inference about a
statistical problem.

The symbol for chi-square and the formula are as follows:

where
O is the observed frequency, and
E is the expected frequency.
The degrees of freedom for the one-dimensional chi-square statistic is:
df = C - 1
where C is the number of categories or levels of the independent variable.

One-Variable Chi-Square (goodness-of-fit test) with equal expected frequencies

We can use the chi-square statistic to test the distribution of measures over levels of a variable to indicate if the
distribution of measures is the same for all levels. This is the first use of the one-variable chi-square test. This test
is also referred to as the goodness-of-fit test.

56
Using the example we already mentioned of the frequency with which entering freshman, when required to
purchase a computer for college use, select Macintosh Computers, IBM Computers, or Some other brand of
computer. We want to know if there is a significant difference among the frequencies with which these three
brands of computers are selected or if the students select equally among the three brands.
The data for 100 students is recorded in the table below (the observed frequencies). We have also indicated the
expected frequency for each category. Since there are 100 measures or observations and there are three categories
(Macintosh, IBM, and Other) we would indicate the expected frequency for each category to be 100/3 or 33.333.
In the third column of the table we have calculated the square of the observed frequency minus the expected
frequency divided by the expected frequency. The sum of the third column would be the value of the chi-square
statistic.

Frequency with which students select computer brand

Computer Brands Observed Frequency Expected Frequency (O-E)2/E
IBM 47 33.333 5.604
Macintosh 36 33.333 0.213
Other 17 33.333 8.003
Total (chi-square) 13.820

From the table we can see that:

The df = C - 1 = 3 - 1 = 2

We can compare the obtained value of chi-square with the critical value for the .05 level and with degrees of
freedom of 2 obtained from Appendix Table F (Distribution of Chi Square) on page 331 of the text. Looking under
the column for .05 and the row for df = 2 we see that the critical value for chi-square is 5.991.

We now have the information we need to complete the six step process for testing statistical hypotheses for our
research problem.

State the null hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis based on your research question.

Note: Our null hypothesis, for the chi-square test, states that there are no differences between the
observed and the expected frequencies. The alternate hypothesis states that there are significant
differences between the observed and expected frequencies.

Set the alpha level.

Note: As usual we will set our alpha level at .05, we have 5 chances in 100 of making a type I error.

Calculate the value of the appropriate statistic. Also indicate the degrees of freedom for the statistical
test if necessary.

df = C - 1 = 2

57
 Write the decision rule for rejecting the null hypothesis.

Reject H0 if > = 5.991.

Note: To write the decision rule we had to know the critical value for chi-square, with an alpha level of .
05, and 2 degrees of freedom. We can do this by looking at Appendix Table F and noting the tabled value
for the column for the .05 level and the row for 2 df.
Write a summary statement based on the decision.
Reject H0, p < .05

Note: Since our calculated value of (13.820) is greater than 5.991, we reject the null hypothesis and
accept the alternative hypothesis.
Write a statement of results in standard English.
There is a significant difference among the frequencies with which students purchased three different
brands of computers.

One-Variable Chi-Square (goodness-of-fit test) with predetermined expected frequencies

Let's look at the problem we just solved, in a way that illustrates the other use of one-variable chi-square, that is
with predetermined expected frequencies rather than with equal frequencies. We could formulated our revised
problem as follows:

In a national study, students required to buy computers for college use bought IBM computers 50% of the time,
Macintosh computers 25% of the time, and other computers 25% of the time. Of 100 entering freshman we
surveyed 36 bought Macintosh Computers, 47 bought IBM computers, and 17 bought some other brand of
computer. We want to know if these frequencies of computer buying behavior is similar to or different than the
national study data.

The data for 100 students is recorded in the table below (the observed frequencies). In this case the expected
frequencies are those from the national study. To get the expected frequency we take the percentages from the
national study times the total number of subjects in the current study.

Expected frequency for IBM = 100 X 50% = 50

Expected frequency for Macintosh = 100 X 25% = 25
Expected frequency for Other = 100 X 25% = 25

The expected frequencies are recorded in the second column of the table. As before we have calculated the square
of the observed frequency minus the expected frequency divided by the expected frequency and recorded this
result in the third column of the table. The sum of the third column would be the value of the chi-square statistic.

Frequency with which students select computer brand

Computer Observed Frequency Expected Frequency (O-E)2/E
IBM 47 50 0.18
Macintosh 36 25 4.84
Other 17 25 2.56
Total (chi-square) 7.58

From the table we can see that:

58
The df = C - 1 = 3 - 1 = 2

We can compare the obtained value of chi-square with the critical value for the .05 level and with degrees of
freedom of 2 obtained from Appendix Table F (Distribution of Chi Square) on page 331 of the text. Looking under
the column for .05 and the row for df = 2 we see that the critical value for chi-square is 5.991.

We now have the information we need to complete the six step process for testing statistical hypotheses for our
research problem.

1. State the null hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis based on your research question.

Note: Our null hypothesis, for the chi-square test, states that there are no differences between the
observed and the expected frequencies. The alternate hypothesis states that there are significant
differences between the observed and expected frequencies.
2. Set the alpha level.

Note: As usual we will set our alpha level at .05, we have 5 chances in 100 of making a type I error.
3. Calculate the value of the appropriate statistic. Also indicate the degrees of freedom for the
statistical test if necessary.

df = C - 1 = 2
4. Write the decision rule for rejecting the null hypothesis.

Reject H0 if >= 5.991.

Note: To write the decision rule we had to know the critical value for chi-square, with an alpha level of .
05, and 2 degrees of freedom. We can do this by looking at Appendix Table F and noting the tabled value
for the column for the .05 level and the row for 2 df.
5. Write a summary statement based on the decision.
Reject H0, p < .05

Note: Since our calculated value of (7.58) is greater than 5.991, we reject the null hypothesis and
accept the alternative hypothesis.
6. Write a statement of results in standard English.
There is a significant difference among the frequencies with which students purchased three different
brands of computers and the proportions suggested by a national study.

Two-Variable Chi-Square (test of independence)

Now let us consider the case of the two-variable chi-square test, also known as the test of independence.
For example we may wish to know if there is a significant difference in the frequencies with which males come
from small, medium, or large cities as contrasted with females. The two variables we are considering here are
hometown size (small, medium, or large) and sex (male or female). Another way of putting our research question
is: Is gender independent of size of hometown?
The data for 30 females and 6 males is in the following table.

59
Frequency with which males and females come from small, medium, and large cities

Small Medium Large Totals

Female 10 14 6 30
Male 4 1 1 6
Totals 14 15 7 36

The formula for chi-square is the same as before:

where
O is the observed frequency, and
E is the expected frequency.
The degrees of freedom for the two-dimensional chi-square statistic is:
df = (C - 1)(R - 1)
where C is the number of columns or levels of the first variable and R is the number of rows or levels of the
second variable.
In the table above we have the observed frequencies (six of them). Now we must calculate the expected frequency
for each of the six cells. For two-variable chi-square we find the expected frequencies with the formula:
Expected Frequency for a Cell = (Column Total X Row Total)/Grand Total
In the table above we can see that the Column Totals are 14 (small), 15 (medium), and 7 (large), while the Row
Totals are 30 (female) and 6 (male). The grand total is 36.
Using the formula we can thus find the expected frequency for each cell.
1. The expected frequency for the small female cell is 14 X 30/36 = 11.667
2. The expected frequency for the medium female cell is 15 X 30/36 = 12.500
3. The expected frequency for the large female cell is 7 X 30/36 = 5.833
4. The expected frequency for the small male cell is 14 X 6/36 = 2.333
5. The expected frequency for the medium male cell is 15 X 6/36 = 2.500
6. The expected frequency for the large male cell is 7 X 6/36 = 1.167

We can put these expected frequencies in our table and also include the values for (O - E)2/E. The sum of all these
will of course be the value of chi-square.

Observed frequencies, expected frequencies, and (O - E)2/E for males and females from small, medium, and
large cities

Small Medium Large Totals

(O- (O- (O-

Observed Expected Observed Expected Observed Expected
E)2/E E)2/E E)2/E
Female 10 11.667 0.238 14 12.500 0.180 6 5.833 0.005 30

60
 Male 4 2.333 1.191 1 2.500 0.900 1 1.167 0.024 6
Totals 14 15 7 36

From the table we can see that:

and df = (C - 1)(R - 1) = (3 - 1)(2 - 1) = (2)(1) = 2

We now have the information we need to complete the six step process for testing statistical hypotheses for our
research problem.

State the null hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis based on your research question.

Set the alpha level.

Calculate the value of the appropriate statistic. Also indicate the degrees of freedom for the statistical
test if necessary.

df = (C - 1)(R - 1) = (2)(1) = 2
Write the decision rule for rejecting the null hypothesis.

Reject H0 if >= 5.991.

Note: To write the decision rule we had to know the critical value for chi-square, with an alpha level of .
05, and 2 degrees of freedom. We can do this by looking at Appendix Table F and noting the tabled value
for the column for the .05 level and the row for 2 df.
Write a summary statement based on the decision.
Fail to reject H0

Note: Since our calculated value of (2.538) is not greater than 5.991, we fail to reject the null
hypothesis and are unable to accept the alternative hypothesis.
Write a statement of results in standard English.
There is not a significant difference in the frequencies with which males come from small, medium, or
large towns as compared with females.
Hometown size is not independent of gender.

Chi-square is a useful non-parametric statistic to help evaluate statistical hypothesis, involving frequencies with
which observations fall in various categories (nominal data).

61
 Testing the Significance of Correlation Coefficients, Choosing the
Proper Statistical Test
Using Statistical Tests Involving Correlation
In the previous section we discussed correlation or measures of association. At that time we discussed how to
calculate the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient, r, which is used to show the degree of relationship
between two variables when the dependent variable is at the interval or ratio level. The Pearson r is thus a
parametric statistic. In this lesson we will show how to use the Pearson r, as an inferential statistic to test a
statistical hypothesis in a research design.
In lesson 8 we also discussed the calculation of the Spearman Rank-Difference Correlation Coefficient, r S, which
is used to show the relationship between two variables which are expressed as ranks (the ordinal level of
measurement). The Spearman rS is thus a non-parametric statistic. In this course we have thus far discussed two
non-parametric statistics, the Spearman Rank Difference Correlation Coefficient and Chi-Square. All of the rest of
the statistics we have discussed in the course are parametric statistics. In this lesson we will show how to use the
Spearman, rS as an inferential statistic to test a statistical hypothesis.

Example of a Statistical Test using the Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient

A researcher wishes to establish the concurrent validity for the Perceived Stress Checklist by correlating it with a
stress test with known validity, the Teacher's Stress Test. To measure the degree of association between the two
measures of stress, the researcher has a group of pre-service teachers complete each instrument. The researcher
wishes to know if there is a significant positive correlation between the two measures of stress. The group of 26
subjects obtained the following scores on the two measures.

Scores on Teacher's Stress Test and Stress Checklist for 26 Pre-Service Teachers
Subject ID Number Score on Teacher's Stress Test Score on Perceived Stress Checklist
10 16 5
11 24 3
20 11 0
27 13 1
28 17 5
30 17 1
34 12 3
35 14 5
43 31 2
44 15 2
46 18 7
50 17 5
54 29 1
58 20 9
59 25 4
60 18 2
64 46 8

62
 66 34 8
68 23 4
75 17 8
88 18 0
85 11 5
90 19 3
91 9 0
92 46 8
95 13 9

We can enter this data into an Excel spreadsheet, and then select Data Analysis from the Tools menu. In the Data
Analysis window select Correlation and find the value of r to be 0.379389094 which we can round to 0.38

The null hypothesis for a correlation problem is r = 0 (the hypothesis of no relationship) and the alternative
hypothesis can take one of three forms depending on the problem.
H1: r > 0 (hypothesizing a significant positive correlation between the two variables - a one tailed test)
H1: r < 0 (hypothesizing a significant negative correlation between the two variables - a one tailed test)
H1: (hypothesizing a significant non zero correlation - a two tailed test)
Since the problem is concerned only with a significant positive relationship between the two variables, we would
use the first variant of the alternative hypothesis.
We can use the table in Appendix (Values of the Correlation Coefficient (Pearson's r) for Different Levels of
Significance) to find the significant level of r.
The degrees of freedom for the Pearson r is the number of subjects (pairs of scores) minus 2 or for our problem:
df = N - 2 = 26 - 2 = 24
If we look in the .05 column of the table on page 317 and the row for 24 df, we find the level at which r is
significant is .388
However, this results is for a two-tailed test. The text table for Values of the Correlation Coefficient for Different
levels of Significance is for two-tailed tests. To use this table for one-tailed tests proceed as follows:
1. Use the .10 column for alpha = .10 two-tailed or alpha = .05 one-tailed
2. Use the .05 column for alpha = .05 two-tailed or alpha = .025 one-tailed
3. Use the .02 column for alpha = .02 two-tailed or alpha = .01 one-tailed
4. Use the .01 column for alpha = .01 two-tailed or alpha = .005 one-tailed

So for our one-tailed test at alpha = .05 with 24 degrees of freedom, we use the .10 column of the table and find
that an r of .330 is significant at the .05 level for a one-tailed test.
We now have the information we need to complete the six step process for testing statistical hypotheses for our
research problem.
1. State the null hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis based on your research question.
H0: r = 0
H1: r > 0
Note: Our null hypothesis, for the Pearson r, states that r is 0. The alternative hypothesis states that r has a
significant positive value.
2. Set the alpha level.

63
 Note: As usual we will set our alpha level at .05, we have 5 chances in 100 of making a type I error.
3. Calculate the value of the appropriate statistic. Also indicate the degrees of freedom for the
statistical test if necessary.
r = .38
df = N - 2 = 26 - 2 = 24
4. Write the decision rule for rejecting the null hypothesis.
Reject H0 if r >= .330
Note: To write the decision rule we had to know the critical value for r, with an alpha level of .05 (one-
tailed test), and 24 degrees of freedom. We can do this by looking at Appendix Table B and noting the
tabled value for the column for the .10 level and the row for 24 df.
5. Write a summary statement based on the decision.
Reject H0, p < .05, one-tailed
Note: Since our calculated value of r (.38 actually .3794) is greater than .330, we reject the null
hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis.
6. Write a statement of results in standard English.
There is a significant positive correlation between the Teacher's Stress Test and the Perceived Stress
Checklist.
Another way of looking at a correlation coefficient, is to estimate the amount of common variance between the
two variables that is accounted for by the relationship. This quantity (proportion of common variance) is the
square of the correlation coefficient.
For our problem the proportion of common variance = r2 = (.3794)2 = .1439 or the two variables are approximately
14% the same but 84% (100 - 14) different.
Example of Statistical Test using the Spearman Rank-Difference Correlation Coefficient
Is there a significant positive correlation between the rankings of 10 children on a reading test and their teacher's
ranking of their reading ability? In this problem we are relating a set of scores (interval level of measurement) with
the teacher's ranking of the children in reading (ordinal level of measurement). To do this we first convert the
reading test scores to ranks by assigning the highest score a rank of 1, the next highest a rank of 2, etc. Now we are
looking at rankings on two variables and can use the Spearman Rank-Difference Correlation Coefficient to test the
significance of the relationship. The two set of ranks, as well as the difference between the pairs of ranks (D) and
the differences squared (D2), are shown in the following table.

Worksheet to Calculate the Correlation between Students Ranks on a Reading Test and Teacher's Ranking of
the Students on Reading
Reading Test Score Rank Teacher's Ranking on Reading D D2
1 3 -2 4
2 2 0 0
3 1 2 4
4 4 0 0
5 5 0 0
6 6 0 0
7 8 -1 1
8 7 1 1
9 10 -1 1
10 9 1 1

64
 Total 12

From the table we can see that:

df = N - 2 = 10 - 2 = 8
We now have the information we need to complete the six step process for testing statistical hypotheses for our
research problem.
1. State the null hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis based on your research question.
H0: rS = 0
H1: rS > 0
Note: Our null hypothesis states that there is no significant relationship between the two variables. The
alternative hypothesis states that there is a significant positive correlation between the two variables.
2. Set the alpha level.

Note: As usual we will set our alpha level at .05, we have 5 chances in 100 of making a type I error.
3. Calculate the value of the appropriate statistic. Also indicate the degrees of freedom for the
statistical test if necessary.
rS = .93
df = N - 2 = 10 - 2 = 8
4. Write the decision rule for rejecting the null hypothesis.
Reject H0 if rS >= .549
Note: To write the decision rule we had to know the critical value for rS, with an alpha level of .05, and 8
degrees of freedom. We can do this by looking at Appendix Table B, this is the same table we used for the
Pearson r, and noting the tabled value for the column for the .10 level and the row for 8 df (.549).
Note: We used the .10 column because we are doing a one-tailed test with an alpha of .05 As noted in our
problem above the Pearson r, in the table of critical values for r, the .10 column is used for alpha = .10
(two-tailed test) and for alpha = .05 (one-tailed test).
5. Write a summary statement based on the decision.
Reject H0, p < .05, one-tailed
Note: Since our calculated value of rS (.93) is greater than .549, we reject the null hypothesis and accept
the alternative hypothesis.
6. Write a statement of results in standard English.
There is a significant positive correlation between the children's ranks on a reading test and their teacher's
ranking of them on reading.

Choosing the Proper Statistical Test

Let's finish our discussion of inferential statistics with a summary of all the inferential statistics we have discussed
and look at the conditions under which we would use each of these statistics. Generally if we know the number of

65
groups or samples in our research design and the level of measurement of the dependent variable we will know
which inferential statistic to use.

First let us look at statistical hypotheses in research designs where the dependent variable is at the interval or ratio
level. These statistics are known as parametric statistics and we have used the following:

If we are testing a statistical hypothesis, involving a single score (we are comparing the score with the
population mean) we will use the z-score test.
If we are testing a statistical hypothesis involving a single group (we are comparing the mean of the
group with the population mean) and the standard deviation of the population is know use the z test.
If we are testing a statistical hypothesis involving a single group (we are comparing the mean of the
group with the population mean) and the standard deviation of the population is not known use the single
sample t-test.
If we are testing a statistical hypothesis involved two groups of subjects (we are comparing the means of
the two groups) and the two groups are independent of one another, we use the independent t-test.
If we are testing a statistical hypothesis involved two groups of subjects (we are comparing the means of
the two groups) and the two groups are dependent on one another (pretest/posttest or matched samples),
we use the dependent t-test.
If we are testing a statistical hypothesis involved three or more groups of subjects (we are comparing the
means of three or more groups) and there is a single dependent variable in the study, we use one-way
analysis of variance.
If we are testing a statistical hypothesis involved the relationship between two variables for one sample
(we are measuring the relationship between the two variables) and the data is at the interval or ratio level
of measurement), use the Pearson product moment correlation coefficient.
We also looked at two other statistics we could use with data that was not at the interval or ratio level of
measurement. These statistics are called non-parametric statistics.
If we are testing a statistical hypothesis for one, two, or more groups with one or two variables where the
data is categorical (frequencies). The data is at the nominal level of measurement. For this type of study
use chi-square. We have discussed three different variants of the chi-square statistic.
1. one variable chi-square with equal expected frequencies
2. one variable chi-square with unequal (predetermined) expected frequencies
3. two variable chi-square
If we are testing a statistical hypothesis involved the relationship between two variables for one sample
(we are measuring the relationship between the two variables) and the data is at the ordinal level of
measurement (ranks), use the Spearman rank-difference correlation coefficient.
The information we have discussed above can be put into the following table. The table also includes other
statistics that we have not included in this course. If you think you may need one of the statistics we did not cover
in your research design, please send e-mail to the instructor and I will give you a reference to the calculation and
interpretation of that statistic. I wish you the best as you complete the final examination for this course and as you
apply the information from this course to your own research design.

66
 Selecting a Statistical Test
Sample Characteristics
Two-Sample Statistical Measures of
Level of Tests Association
One-Sample Multiple Sample
Measurement (one-sample,
Statistical Non- Statistical
Independent more
Tests independent Tests
Samples than one
Samples variable)
Nominal or
McNemar
Categorical Chi-Square Chi-Square Chi-Square Phi Coefficient
Change Test
(frequencies)
Kolmagorov- Wilcoxon Krushcal-Wallis
Ordinal Smirnov Mann Whitney Matched Pairs One-Way Spearman rho
(Ranks) One-Sample U-Test Signed-Rank Analysis of rS
Test Test Variance
Simple
Analysis of Variance

Z test Factorial Pearson r

Interval Independent Dependent Analysis of Variance
or Ratio One-Sample t-test t-test Multiple
t-Test Scheffe Tests Regression

Analysis of
Covariance

Calculating the Mean with the Excel Spreadsheet Program

We can use the Excel spreadsheet program to assist us in many calculations, including
calculation of the mean.
Let us say that we have the quiz scores for nine students in a mathematics class for their first
four quizzes. The data for these nine pupils could appear in a spreadsheet as follows:

67
Using the Office 98 Version of Excel (in either the Windows or the Macintosh versions),
starting with the worksheet containing the quiz scores we can find the mean or average for each
quiz by proceeding as follows:

1. In the Quiz Scores for Students in Mathematics Class worksheet, Click on cell A13 and
enter the word Mean
2. Click on the cell B13 and click on which is the paste function icon.
3. In the Paste Function window which appears select Statistical under Function
Category: and Average under Function name:, and click OK.
4. In the Number 1 box that appears enter B3:B11 and click OK. The mean for Quiz 1
(based on the scores in cells B3 through B11) appears in cell B13 and has the value 16.
5. To format this value to two decimal places, select Cells from the Format menu. In the
Format Cells window that appears click on the Numbers tab and click on Numbers under
Category:.
6. Adjust the Decimal places: box so that is shows 2. You can adjust the number in the
box by clicking on the up or down arrows to the right of the box. Click OK and observe that
the mean for Quiz 1 appears as 16.00
7. Copy this same formula to the other three quizzes by clicking on cell B13 and dragging
over to cell E13. Select Fill from the Edit menu and then with the mouse button depressed
slide to the right and select Right.
The completed worksheet shows the means for all four quizzes and should look something like
the following:

Calculating the Variance and the Standard Deviation with the Excel
Spreadsheet Program

We can use the Excel spreadsheet program to assist us in calculating the variance and the
standard deviation for either a sample or a population.

Let us say that we have the quiz scores for nine students in a mathematics class for their first
four quizzes. In a previous lesson we learned how to use the spreadsheet program to calculate

68
the means for each of the quizzes. The data for these nine pupils and the means which are
calculated could appear in a spreadsheet as follows:

Using the Office 98 Version of Excel (in either the Windows or the Macintosh versions),
starting with the worksheet containing the quiz scores and their means, we can find the
population and the sample values for the variance and the standard deviation for each quiz by
proceeding as follows:

Using Excel to find the population variance for the quiz scores
1. In the Quiz Scores for Students in Mathematics Class worksheet, Click on cell
A14 and enter the words Pop Variance
2. Click on the cell B14 and click on which is the paste function icon.
3. In the Paste Function window which appears select Statistical under Function
Category: and VARP under Function name:, and click OK.
4. In the VARP box that appears enter B3:B11 and click OK. The Population
Variance for Quiz 1 (based on the scores in cells B3 through B11) appears in cell B14.
5. To format this value to three decimal places, click on , the Increase Decimal
icon, three times, and observe that the Population Variance for Quiz 1 appears as 6.000
6. Copy this same formula to the other three quizzes by clicking on cell B14 and
dragging over to cell E14. Select Fill from the Edit menu and then with the mouse button
depressed slide to the right and select Right. The Population Variance, formatted to three
decimal places now appears for each of the quizes.

Using Excel to find the population standard deviation for the quiz scores
1. In the Quiz Scores for Students in Mathematics Class worksheet, Click on cell
A15 and enter the words Pop SD
2. Click on the cell B15 and click on which is the paste function icon.
3. In the Paste Function window which appears select Statistical under Function
Category: and STDEVP under Function name:, and click OK.

69
4. In the STDEVP box that appears enter B3:B11 and click OK. The Population
Standard Deviation for Quiz 1 (based on the scores in cells B3 through B11) appears in cell
B15.
5. To format this value to three decimal places, click on , the Decrease Decimal
icon, five times, and observe that the Population Standard Deviation for Quiz 1 appears as
2.449
6. Copy this same formula to the other three quizzes by clicking on cell B15 and
dragging over to cell E15. Select Fill from the Edit menu and then with the mouse button
depressed slide to the right and select Right. The Population Standard Deviation, formatted
to three decimal places now appears for each of the quizzes.

Using Excel to find the sample variance for the quiz scores
1. In the Quiz Scores for Students in Mathematics Class worksheet, Click on cell
A16 and enter the words Sample Var
2. Click on the cell B16 and click on which is the paste function icon.
3. In the Paste Function window which appears select Statistical under Function
Category: and VAR under Function name:, and click OK.
4. In the VAR box that appears enter B3:B11 and click OK. The Sample Variance
for Quiz 1 (based on the scores in cells B3 through B11) appears in cell B16.
5. To format this value to three decimal places, click on , the Increase Decimal
icon, one time, and observe that the Sample Variance for Quiz 1 appears as 6.750
6. Copy this same formula to the other three quizzes by clicking on cell B16 and
dragging over to cell E16. Select Fill from the Edit menu and then with the mouse button
depressed slide to the right and select Right. The Sample Variance, formatted to three
decimal places now appears for each of the quizzes.

Using Excel to find the sample standard deviation for the quiz scores
1. In the Quiz Scores for Students in Mathematics Class worksheet, Click on cell
A17 and enter the words Sample SD
2. Click on the cell B17 and click on which is the paste function icon.
3. In the Paste Function window which appears select Statistical under Function
Category: and STDEV under Function name:, and click OK.
4. In the STDEV box that appears enter B3:B11 and click OK. The SAMPLE SD
for Quiz 1 (based on the scores in cells B3 through B11) appears in cell B17.
5. To format this value to three decimal places, click on , the Decrease Decimal
icon, five times, and observe that the Sample SD for Quiz 1 appears as 2.598
6. Copy this same formula to the other three quizzes by clicking on cell B17 and
dragging over to cell E17. Select Fill from the Edit menu and then with the mouse button
depressed slide to the right and select Right. The Sample Standard Deviation, formatted
to three decimal places now appears for each of the quizes.

70
The completed worksheet shows the means, the variances, and the standard deviations, for all
four quizzes and should look something like the following:

Calculating Correlation with the Excel Spreadsheet Program

The Excel Spreadsheet Program can be used to calculate the Pearson r (with data at the interval
or ratio level) or the Spearman r (with data at the ordinal level).

Calculating the Pearson Product Momement Correlation Coefficient with the

Excel Spreadsheet Program

To calculate the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient with the Excel Spreadsheet
Program, open a new worksheet and create a table with the data that will be used to create the
scatterplot. We will use the data from Table 3 - Reading and Spelling Scores for 10 Students -
which may look like the following after being entered into an Excel worksheet.

Find the correlation between reading and spelling as follows:

1. Click on cell A14 and enter the following label - Pearson r =

2. Click on cell B14 and then click on the Paste Function icon
3. In the Paste Function window select Statistical under Function category:, then scroll
down and select PEARSON under Function name:

71
 4. Click OK.
5. Drag the Pearson window, which appears, so that it is not covering your Table 3 data.
6. Click and select cells B3 through B12. The Array 1 box should now show the range of
cells for reading (B3:B12).
7. Select the Array 2 box by clicking in it, then click and select cells C3 through C12. The
Array 2 box should now show the range of cells for spelling (C3:C12).
8. Click OK and note that -0.3611812 appears in cell B14.
9. Format the quantity in cell B14 by clicking on it and then selecting Cells... from the
Format menu. Click on the Number tab and select Number under Category: Use the
selection arrow to set Decimal places: at 2 and click OK.

Your completed worksheet should appear as below with - 0.36 as the correlation coefficient.

As an activity you may wish to use the spreadsheet to calculate the correlation coefficient for
the data in tables 1 and 2.

Calculating the Spearman Rank Order Correlation Coefficient with the Excel
Spreadsheet Program

To calculate the Spearman Rank Order Correlation Coefficient with the Excel Spreadsheet
Program, open a new worksheet and create a table with the data that will be used to create the
scatterplot. We will use the same data we used to explain the Spearman r, that is the ratings of
two judges for seven subject's art projects - which may look like the following after being
entered into an Excel worksheet.

72
Proceed as follows to calculate the Spearman Rank Order Correaltion Coefficient.

1. Click on cell D1 and enter the label D.

2. Click on cell E1 and enter the label D2 (for D squared).
3. Click on cell D2, and enter the formula =B2-C2 and press return.
4. Click on cell D2 and select down through cell D8. Select Fill from the Edit menu and
slide to the right and select Down. The formula in cell D2 will be copied into cells D3
through D8.
5. Click in cell E2, enter the formula =D2*D2 and press return.
6. Click on cell E2 and select down through cell E8. Select Fill from the Edit menu and
slide to the right and select Down. The formula in cell E2 will be copied into cells E3
through E8.
7. Enter the label Sum in cell A9.
8. Click on cell E9, enter the formula =SUM(E2:E8) and press return. The sum of the D
squares (10) will appear in cell E9.
9. Enter the label Spearman r = in cell A10.

Since Excel does not have a built in function to calculate the Spearman r we will enter
the formula ourselves. We will use the following formula which is an adaptation of the
Spearman Rho formula for entry into a cell in the spreadsheet.

As we enter the formula we will substitute cell E9 for summation D squared and 7 for
N.

10. Select cell B10 and enter the following formula: =1-(6*E9/(7*(7*7-1))) and press
return. The Spearman r should appear in cell B11 (0.82142857).
11. Format the result by clicking on cell B10 and selecting Cells... from the Format menu.
Click on the Number tab and select Number under Category:. Select the arrows to the
right of the Decimal places: box until 2 appears in the box.
12. Click OK. Notice that the answer, 0.82, is formatted to 2 decimal places.

Your spreadsheet should now appear as follows:

73
Using the Excel Spreadsheet Program to Calculate the Independent t-
test
The Excel spreadsheet program has a tool to calculate the independent t value which simplifies
our computational task considerably. Let's use the same research problem we already
considered, but use the spreadsheet program to do the calculations.

Research Problem: Job satisfaction as a function of work schedule was investigated in two
different factories. In the first factory the employees are on a fixed shift system while in the
second factory the workers have a rotating shift system. Under the fixed shift system, a worker
always works the same shift, while under the rotating shift system, a worker rotates through the
three shifts. Using the scores below determine if there is a significant difference in job
satisfaction between the two groups of workers.

Work Satisfaction Scores for Two Groups of Workers

Fixed Shift Rotating Shift
79 63
83 71
68 46
59 57
81 53
76 46
80 57
74 76
58 52
49 68
68 73

The first step in solving this problem is to enter the work satisfaction scores for the two groups
into an Excel Worksheet. After we have done this our worksheet should look as follows:

74
In the Excel Worksheet select Data Analysis under the Tools menu. If Data Analysis is not
available you must install the Data Analysis Tools.
If you need to you can install the data analysis tools as follows:
1. Select Add-Ins from the Tools menu.
2. In the Add-Ins window click on the box next to Analysis Tool Pak to select it.
3. Click OK. You have now installed the Tool Pak.

With the Data Analysis Tools installed, select Data Analysis under the Tools menu.
In the Data Analysis window scroll down and select t-Test: Two-Sample Assuming Equal
Variances. Complete the t-Test: Two-Sample Assuming Equal VAriances window as
follows:
1. Enter $A$3:$A$14 in the Variable 1 Range: box (or you can enter that value
automatically by clicking in the box and then selecting the range of cells B3 through
B14). Note that we have included the label, Fixed Shift, in the range of cells we
selected.
2. Enter $B$3:$B$14 in the Variable 2 Range: box (or click on the box and select the cells
B3 through B14).
3. Enter 0 in the Hypothesized mean difference: box.
4. Click the Labels box so that we indicate we are using labels (Fixed Shift and Rotating
Shift)
5. Under Output Options click the button for Output range: and enter $A$16 in the
Output range: box (or click in the box and then click on the cell A16 to cause it to
appear in the box).
6. Click OK.

Your spreadsheet should now appear as follows:

75
The results of the t-test can be seen in the resultant table. The value of t (t Stat)l is
2.210169858, which we can round off to 2.210 which is almost identical to the answer (2.209)
we got when we calculated t without using the spreadsheet program. The small difference
between the two answers is because of rounding the partial answers off during our calculations.
The probability of this results being due to chance (the alpha level) we can read from the table
as 0.038913045 (see t Critical two-tail) which means that this result is significant at the .04
level. We will set our alpha level as .05, so we will say that p < .05 rather than that p = .04
We can also read the critical value or cut-off value for t from the table by looking at t Critical
two-tail which is 2.085962478, which is the same value (2.086) we looked up in the table in the
textbook when we were calculating t without using the spreadsheet.

We now have all the information we need to complete the six step statistical inference process:

1. State the null hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis based on your research
question.

2. Set the alpha level.

3. Calculate the value of the appropriate statistic. Also indicate the degrees of
freedom for the statistical test if necessary.
t = 2.210
df = n1 + n2 - 2 = 11 + 11 - 2 = 20
4. Write the decision rule for rejecting the null hypothesis.
Reject H0 if t is >= 2.086 or if t <= -2.086
5. Write a summary statement based on the decision.
Reject H0, p < .05, two-tailed
6. Write a statement of results in standard English.
There is a significant difference in job satisfaction betwen the two groups of workers.
We can see that the Excel spreadsheet program gives us an easy way to calculate the
independent t value. It also provides us with the critical values of t for the alpha levels we
specify (the default value is an alpha of .05) and the degrees of freedom (df) for the statistic.

76
Using the Excel Spreadsheet Program to Calculate the Dependent t-test
The Excel spreadsheet program has a tool to calculate the dependent t value which simplifies
our computational task considerably. Let's use the same research problem we already
considered, but use the spreadsheet program to do the calculations.
Research Problem: The Beck Depression Scale (pre-test) was administered to ten adolescents
undergoing anger management thereapy. After four weeks of therapy the same scale was
administered again (post-test). Does the anger management therapy significantly reduce the
scores on the depression scale?
In this problem we are comparing pre-test and post-test scores for a group of subjects. This
would be an appropriate situation for the dependent t-test.
The pre-test and post-test scores for the ten subjects are in the following table.
Pre and Post-Test Scores for 10 Adolescents on the Beck Depression Scale
Pre-Test (X1) Post-Test (X2)
14 0
6 0
4 3
15 20
3 0
3 0
6 1
5 1
6 1
3 0

The first step in solving this problem is to enter the pre-test and post-test scores for the subjects
into an Excel Worksheet. After we have done this our worksheet should look as follows:

In the Excel Worksheet select Data Analysis under the Tools menu. If Data Analysis is not
available you must install the Data Analysis Tools.
If you need to you can install the data analysis tools as follows:

77
 1. Select Add-Ins from the Tools menu.
2. In the Add-Ins window click on the box next to Analysis Tool Pak to select it.
3. Click OK. You have now installed the Tool Pak.

With the Data Analysis Tools installed, select Data Analysis under the Tools menu.

In the Data Analysis window scroll down and select t-Test: Paired Two Sample for Means.
Complete the t-Test: Paired Two Sample for Means window as follows:
1. Enter $B$2:$B$12 in the Variable 1 Range: box (or you can enter that value
automatically by clicking in the box and then selecting the range of cells B2 through B12).
Note that we have included the label, Posttest, in the range of cells we selected. Also notice
that we are putting the posttest scores (the second column in the table) in for variable 1
range. This is so that the data tool will subtract the pretest from the posttest as the
calculations are completed.
2. Enter $A$2:$A$12 in the Variable 2 Range: box (or click on the box and select the cells
A2 through A12).
3. Enter 0 in the Hypothesized mean difference: box.
4. Click the Labels box so that we indicate we are using labels (Pretest and Posttest)
5. Under Output Options click the button for Output range: and enter $A$14 in the
Output range: box (or click in the box and then click on the cell A14 to cause it to appear in
the box).
6. Click OK.

Your spreadsheet should now appear as follows:

The results of the dependent t-test can be seen in the resultant table. The value of t (t Stat) is
-2.6234239, which we can round off to -2.623 which is identical to the answer we got when we
calculated t without using the spreadsheet program.

The probability of this result being due to chance can be read from the table as 0.01382762 (see
t Critical one-tail) which means that this result is significant at the .01 level. We will set our
alpha level as .05, so we will say that p < .05 rather than that p = .01

78
We can also read the critical value or cut-off value for t from the table by looking at t Critical
one-tail which is 1.83311386, which is the same value (1.833) we looked up in the table in the
textbook when we were calculating t without using the spreadsheet.

We now have all the information we need to complete the six step statistical inference process:

1. State the null hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis based on your research
question.

2. Set the alpha level.

3. Calculate the value of the appropriate statistic. Also indicate the degrees of
freedom for the statistical test if necessary.
t = -2.623
df = n - 1 = 10 - 1 = 9
4. Write the decision rule for rejecting the null hypothesis.
Reject H0 if t is <= -1.833
5. Write a summary statement based on the decision.
Reject H0, p < .05, one-tailed
6. Write a statement of results in standard English.
The management therapy did significantly reduce the depression scores for adolescents.

We can see that the Excel spreadsheet program gives us an easy way to calculate the
independent t value. It also provides us with the critical values of t for the alpha level we
specified, and the degrees of freedom (df) for the statistic.

Using the Excel Spreadsheet Program to Calculate One-Way Analysis of Variance

The Excel spreadsheet program has a tool to calculate One-Way Analysis of Variance, which
simplifies our computational task considerably. Let's use the same research problem we already
considered, but use the spreadsheet program to do the calculations.

Research Problem:

Three groups of students, 5 in each group, were receiving therapy for severe test anxiety. Group
1 received 5 hours of therapy, group 2 - 10 hours and group 3 - 15 hours. At the end of therapy
each subject completed an evaluation of test anxiety (the dependent variable in the study). Did
the amount of therapy have an effect on the level of test anxiety?
In this problem we are comparing the differences among the means representing three levels of
the independent variable (hours of therapy). This would be an appropriate situation for one-way
analysis of variance.
The three groups of students received the following scores on the Test Anxiety Index (TAI) at
the end of treatment.

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 TAI Scores for Three Groups of Students
Group 1 - 5 hours Group 2 - 10 hours Group 3 - 15 hours
48 55 51
50 52 52
53 53 50
52 55 53
50 53 50

The first step in solving this problem is to enter the TAI scores for the three groups of subjects
into an Excel Worksheet. After we have done this our worksheet should look as follows:

In the Excel Worksheet select Data Analysis under the Tools menu. If Data Analysis is not
available you must install the Data Analysis Tools.

If you need to you can install the data analysis tools as follows:

1. Select Add-Ins from the Tools menu.

2. In the Add-Ins window click on the box next to Analysis Tool Pak to select it.
3. Click OK. You have now installed the Tool Pak.

With the Data Analysis Tools installed, select Data Analysis under the Tools menu.

In the Data Analysis window scroll down and select Anova: Single Factor. Complete the
Anova: Single Factor window as follows:

1. Enter $A$2:$C$7 in the Input Range: box (or you can enter that value automatically by
clicking in the box and then selecting the range of cells A2 through C7). Note that we
have included the labels, Group 1, Group 2, and Group 3, in the range of cells we
selected.
2. Click the Columns button so that we indicate we our data is grouped by columns.
3. Click the Labels in first row box so that we indicate we are using labels (Group 1,
Group 2, and Group 3)
4. Enter .05 in the Alpha: box.
5. Under Output Options click the button for Output range: and enter $A$9 in the
Output range: box (or click in the box and then click on the cell A9 to cause it to appear
in the box).
6. Click OK.

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Your spreadsheet should now appear as follows:

The results of the one-way analysis of variance can be seen in the resultant tables. The means
for the three groups (as well as the count, sum, and variance for each group) can be seen in the
SUMMARYtable.

The ANOVA table shows the same results as we put in the Analysis of Variance table when we
calculated the results ourselves. The value of F is shown to be 5.178082192, which rounded to
5.18 is the same value as we received when we calculated F. The P-Value is shown as .
02391684 which indicates that the result is significant at the .02 level. We have set our alpha
level as .05 so we will simply indicate that p < .05. There is an additional entry to the table
showing the critical value of F at the .05 level (F Crit) which is 3.88529031 which is similar to
the result (2.88) we looked up in Appendix Table D in the textbook.

Unfortunately, the spreadsheet program does not have a program to calculate the Scheffe test,
so we will have too calculate those the way we did before. The results of our Scheffe tests
were:

Summary of Scheffe Test Results

Group One versus Group Two 4.62

Group One versus Group Three 0.18
Group Two versus Group Three 2.96

We now have all the information we need to complete the six step statistical inference process:

1. State the null hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis based on your research
question.

Note: Our null hypothesis, for the F test, states that there are no differences among the

81
 three means. The alternate hypothesis states that there are significant differences among
some or all of the individual means. An unequivocal way of stating this is not H0.
2. Set the alpha level.

Note: As usual we will set our alpha level at .05, we have 5 chances in 100 of making a
type I error.
3. Calculate the value of the appropriate statistic. Also indicate the degrees of
freedom for the statistical test if necessary and the results of any post hoc test, if
they were conducted.
F(2,12) = 5.178, value of the F ratio
F.05(2,12) = 3.88, critical value of F
F12 = 4.630, Scheffe test value for comparing means 1 and 2
F13 = 0.185, Scheffe test value for comparing means 1 and 3
F23 = 2.963, Scheffe test value for comparing means 2 and 3
4. Write the decision rule for rejecting the null hypothesis.
Reject H0 if F is >= 3.88
Note: To write the decision rule we had to know the critical value for F, with an alpha
level of .05, 2 degrees of freedom in the numerator (df between groups) and 12 degrees
of freedom in the denominator (df within groups). We can do this by looking at
Appendix Table D and noting the tabled value for the .05 level in the column for 2 df
and the row for 12 df.
5. Write a summary statement based on the decision.
Reject H0, p < .05
Note: Since our calculated value of F (5.178) is greater than 3.88, we reject the null
hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis.
6. Write a statement of results in standard English.
There is a significant difference among the scores the three groups of students received
on the Test Anxiety Index.
Group 1 (the five hour therapy group) has a significantly lower score on the TAI than
does Group 2 (the ten hour therapy group).

We can see that the Excel spreadsheet program gives us an easy way to calculate the F ratio. It
also provides us with an analysis of variance table which shows, among other things, the
critical value of F for the alpha level we specified, and the probability level (p) of the result.

82
Values of the Correlation Coefficient for different levels of
significance (r)

p (level of significance)
df Two-tailed .05 .025 .01 .005 .0005
One-tailed .10 .05 .02 .01 .001
1 .9877 .9969 .9995 .9999 .99999
2 .9000 .9500 .980 .9900 .9990
3 .8054 .8783 .934 .9587 .9912
4 .7293 .8114 .882 .9172 .9741
5 .6694 .7545 .833 .8745 .9507
6 .6215 .7067 .789 .8343 .92.49
7 .5822 .6664 .750 .7977 .8982
8 .5494 .6319 .716 .7646 .8721
9 .5214 .6021 .685 .7348 .8471
10 .4973 .5760 .658 .7079 .8233
11 .4762 .5529 .634 .6835 .8010
12 .4575 .5324 .612 .6614 .7800
13 .4409 .5139 .592 .6411 .7603
14 .4259 .4973 .574 .6226 .7420
15 .4124 .4821 .558 .6055 .7246
16 .4000 .4683 .542 .5897 .7004
17 .8887 .4555 .529 .5751 .6932
18 .3783 .4438 .516 .5614 .6787
19 .3687 .4329 .503 .5487 .6652
20 .3598 .4227 .492 .5368 .6524
25 .3233 .3809 .443 .4869 .5974
30 .2960 .3494 .409 .4487 .5541
35 .2746 .3246 .381 .4182 .5189
40 .2573 .3044 .358 .3932 .4896
45 .2528 .2875 .338 .3721 .4648
50 .2306 .2732 .332 .3541 .4433
60 .2108 .2500 .295 .3248 .4078
70 .1954 .2319 .274 .3017 .3799
80 .1829 .2172 .256 .2830 .3568
90 .1726 .2050 .242 .2673 .3375
100 .1638 .1946 .230 .2540 .3211

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Distribution of t

p (level of significance) (one-tailed test)

df .10 .05 .01 .001
1 6.314 12.706 63.657 636.619
2 2.920 4.303 9.925 31.598
3 2.353 3.182 5.841 12.924
4 2.132 2.776 4.604 8.610
5 2.015 2.571 4.032 6.869
6 1.943 2.447 3.707 5.959
7 1.895 2.365 3.499 5.408
8 1.860 2.306 3.355 5.041
9 1.833 2.262 3.250 4.781
10 1.812 2.228 3.169 4.587
11 1.796 2.201 3.106 4.437
12 1.782 2.179 3.055 4.318
13 1.771 2.160 3.012 4.221
14 1.761 2.145 2.977 4.140
15 1.753 2.131 2.947 4.073
16 1.746 2.120 2.921 4.015
17 1.740 2.110 2.898 3.965
18 1.734 2.101 2.878 3.922
19 1.729 2.093 2.861 3.883
20 1.725 2.086 2.845 3.850
21 1.721 2.080 2.831 3.819
22 1.717 2.074 2.819 3.792
23 1.714 2.069 2.807 3.767
24 1.711 2.064 2.797 3.745
25 1.708 2.060 2.787 3.725
26 1.706 2.056 2.7798 3.707
27 1.703 2.052 2.771 3.690
28 1.701 2.048 2.763 3.674
29 1.699 2.045 2.756 3.659
30 1.697 2.042 2.750 3.646
40 1.684 2.021 2.704 3.551
60 1.671 2.000 2.660 3.460
120 1.658 1.980 2.617 3.373

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Distribution of t

p (level of significance) (two-tailed test)

df .10 .05 .025 .01 .005 .001
1 3.078 6.314 12.706 31.821 63.657 63.619
2 1.886 2.920 4.303 6.965 9.925 31.598
3 1.638 2.353 3.182 4.541 5.841 12.924
4 1.553 2.132 2.776 3.747 4.604 8.610
5 1.476 2.015 2.571 3.365 4.032 6.869
6 1.440 1.943 2.447 3.143 3.707 5.959
7 1.415 1.895 2.365 2.998 3.499 5.408
8 1.397 1.860 2.306 2.896 3.355 5.041
9 1.383 1.833 2.262 2.821 3.250 4.781
10 1.372 1.812 2.228 2.764 3.169 4.587
11 1.363 1.796 2.201 2.718 3.106 4.437
12 1.356 1.782 2.179 2.681 3.055 4.318
13 1.350 1.771 2.160 2.650 3.012 4.221
14 1.345 1.761 2.145 2.624 2.977 4.140
15 1.341 1.753 2.131 2.602 2.947 4.073
16 1.337 1.746 2.120 2.583 2.921 4.015
17 1.333 1.740 2.110 2.567 2.898 3.965
18 1.330 1.734 2.101 2.552 2.878 3.922
19 1.328 1.729 2.093 2.539 2.861 3.883
20 1.325 1.725 2.086 2.528 2.845 3.850
21 1.323 1.721 2.080 2.518 2.831 3.819
22 1.321 1.717 2.074 2.508 2.819 3.792
23 1.319 1.714 2.069 2.500 2.807 3.767
24 3.318 1.711 2.064 2.492 2.797 3.745
25 1.316 1.708 2.060 2.485 2.787 3.725
26 1.315 1.706 2.056 2.479 2.7798 3.707
27 1.314 1.703 2.052 2.473 2.771 3.690
28 1.313 1.701 2.048 2.467 2.763 3.674
29 1.311 1.699 2.045 2.462 2.756 3.659
30 1.310 1.697 2.042 2.457 2.750 3.646
40 1.303 1.684 2.021 2.423 2.704 3.551
60 1.296 1.671 2.000 2.390 2.660 3.460
120 1.289 1.658 1.980 2.358 2.617 3.373

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Distribution of 2

p (level of significance)
df .10 .05 .01 .001
1 2.706 3.841 6.635 10.823
2 4.605 5.991 9.210 13.815
3 6.251 7.815 11.345 16.266
4 7.779 9.488 13.277 18.467
5 9.236 11.070 15.086 20.515
6 10.645 12.592 16.812 22.457
7 12.017 14.067 18.475 24.322
8 13.362 15.507 20.090 26.125
9 14.684 16.919 21.666 27.877
10 15.987 18.307 23.209 29.588
11 17.275 19.675 24.725 31.264
12 18.549 21.026 26.217 32.909
13 19.812 22.362 27.688 34.528
14 21.064 23.685 29.141 36.123
15 22.307 24.996 30.578 37.697
16 23.542 26.296 32.000 39.252
17 24.769 27.587 33.409 40.790
18 25.989 28.860 34.805 42.312
19 27.204 30.144 36.191 43.820
20 28.412 31.410 37.566 45.315
21 29.615 32.671 38.932 46.797
22 30.813 33.924 40.289 48.268
23 32.007 35.172 41.638 49.728
24 33.196 36.415 42.980 51.179
25 34.382 37.652 44.314 52.620
26 35.563 38.885 45.642 54.052
27 36.741 40.113 46.963 55.476
28 37.916 41.337 48.278 56.893
29 39.087 42.557 49.588 58.302
30 40.256 43.773 50.892 59.703
32 42.585 46.194 53.486 62.487
34 44.903 48,602 56.061 65.247
36 47.212 50.999 58.619 67.985
38 49.513 53.384 61.162 70.703
40 51.805 55.759 63.691 73.402
42 54.090 58.124 66.206 76.084
44 56.369 60.481 68.710 78.750
46 58.641 62.830 71.201 81.400
48 60.907 65.171 73.683 84.037
50 63.167 67.505 76.154 86.661

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