Chapter 10 Power Points for Essentials of Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences, Gravetter & Wallnau, 8th ed

1. Chapter 10
The t Test for Two
Independent Samples
PowerPoint Lecture Slides
Essentials of Statistics for the
Behavioral Sciences
Eighth Edition
by Frederick J Gravetter and Larry B. Wallnau

2. Chapter 10 Learning Outcomes
• Understand structure of research study appropriate
for independent-measures t hypothesis test1
• Test difference between two populations or two
treatments using independent-measures t statistic2
• Evaluate magnitude of the observed mean difference
(effect size) using Cohen’s d, r2, and/or a confidence
interval
3
• Understand how to evaluate the assumptions
underlying this test and how to adjust calculations
when needed
4

3. Tools You Will Need
• Sample variance (Chapter 4)
• Standard error formulas (Chapter 7)
• The t statistic (chapter 9)
– Distribution of t values
– df for the t statistic
– Estimated standard error

4. 10.1 Independent-Measures
Design Introduction
• Most research studies compare two (or more)
sets of data
– Data from two completely different, independent
participant groups (an independent-measures or
between-subjects design)
– Data from the same or related participant group(s)
(a within-subjects or repeated-measures design)

5. 10.1 Independent-Measures
Design Introduction (continued)
• Computational procedures are considerably
different for the two designs
• Each design has different strengths and
weaknesses
• Consequently, only between-subjects designs
are considered in this chapter; repeated-
measures designs will be reserved for
discussion in Chapter 11

6. Figure 10.1 Independent-
Measures Research Design

7. 10.2 Independent-Measures
Design t Statistic
• Null hypothesis for independent-measures
test
• Alternative hypothesis for the independent-
measures test
0: 210  H
0: 211  H

8. Independent-Measures
Hypothesis Test Formulas
• Basic structure of the t statistic
• t = [(sample statistic) – (hypothesized population
parameter)] divided by the estimated standard error
• Independent-measures t test
)
2121
2
)()(
M(M1
s
MM
t





9. Estimated standard error
• Measure of standard or average distance
between sample statistic (M1-M2) and the
population parameter
• How much difference it is reasonable to
expect between two sample means if the
null hypothesis is true (equation 10.1)
2
2
2
1
2
)(
1
21
n
s
n
s
s MM 

10. Pooled Variance
• Equation 10.1 shows standard error concept
but is unbiased only if n1 = n2
• Pooled variance (sp
2 provides an unbiased
basis for calculating the standard error
21
212
dfdf
SSSS
sp




11. Degrees of freedom
• Degrees of freedom (df) for t statistic is
df for first sample + df for second sample
)1()1( 2121  nndfdfdf
Note: this term is the same as the denominator of the
pooled variance

12. Box 10.1
Variability of Difference Scores
• Why add sample measurement errors
(squared deviations from mean) but subtract
sample means to calculate a difference score?

13. Figure 10.2
Two population distributions

14. Estimated Standard Error for the
Difference Between Two Means
2
2
1
2
)( 21
n
s
n
s
s
pp
MM 
The estimated standard error of M1 – M2 is then
calculated using the pooled variance estimate

15. Figure 10.3 Critical Region for
Example 10.1 (df = 18; α = .01)

16. Learning Check
• Which combination of factors is most likely to
produce a significant value for an
independent-measures t statistic?
• a small mean difference and small sample variancesA
• a large mean difference and large sample variancesB
• a small mean difference and large sample variancesC
• a large mean difference and small sample variancesD

17. Learning Check - Answer
• Which combination of factors is most likely to
produce a significant value for an
independent-measures t statistic?
• a small mean difference and small sample variancesA
• a large mean difference and large sample variancesB
• a small mean difference and large sample variancesC
• a large mean difference and small sample variancesD

18. Learning Check
• Decide if each of the following statements
is True or False
• If both samples have n = 10, the
independent-measures t statistic will
have df = 19
T/F
• For an independent-measures t statistic, the
estimated standard error measures how much
difference is reasonable to expect between the
sample means if there is no treatment effect
T/F

19. Learning Check - Answers
• df = (n1-1) + (n2-1) = 9 + 9 = 18False
• This is an accurate interpretationTrue

20. Measuring Effect Size
• If the null hypothesis is rejected, the size of
the effect should be determined using either
• Cohen’s d
• or Percentage of variance explained
2
21
deviationstandardestimated
differencemeanestimated
estimated
ps
MM
d


dft
t
r

 2
2
2

21. Figure 10.4
Scores from Example 10.1

22. Confidence Intervals for
Estimating μ1 – μ2
• Difference M1 – M2 is used to estimate the
population mean difference
• t equation is solved for unknown (μ1 – μ2)
)(2121 21 MMtsMM  

23. Confidence Intervals and
Hypothesis Tests
• Estimation can provide an indication of the
size of the treatment effect
• Estimation can provide an indication of the
significance of the effect
• If the interval contain zero, then it is not a
significant effect
• If the interval does NOT contain zero, the
treatment effect was significant

24. Figure 10.5 95% Confidence
Interval from Example 10.3

25. In the Literature
• Report whether the difference between the
two groups was significant or not
• Report descriptive statistics (M and SD) for
each group
• Report t statistic and df
• Report p-value
• Report CI immediately after t, e.g., 90% CI
[6.156, 9.785]

26. Directional Hypotheses and
One-tailed Tests
• Use directional test only when predicting a
specific direction of the difference is justified
• Locate critical region in the appropriate tail
• Report use of one-tailed test explicitly in the
research report

27. Figure 10.6
Two Sample Distributions

28. Figure 10.7 Two Samples from
Different Treatment Populations

29. 10.4 Assumptions for the
Independent-Measures t-Test
• The observations within each sample must be
independent
• The two populations from which the samples
are selected must be normal
• The two populations from which the samples
are selected must have equal variances
– Homogeneity of variance

30. Hartley’s F-max test
• Test for homogeneity of variance
– Large value indicates large difference between
sample variance
– Small value (near 1.00) indicates similar sample
variances
(smallest)s
(largest)
max 2
2
s
F 

31. Box 10.2
Pooled Variance Alternative
• If sample information suggests violation of
homogeneity of variance assumption:
• Calculate standard error as in Equation 10.1
• Adjust df for the t test as given below:
11 2
2
2
2
2
1
2
1
2
1
2
2
2
2
1
2
1























n
n
s
n
n
s
n
s
n
s
df

32. Learning Check
• For an independent-measures research study,
the value of Cohen’s d or r2 helps to describe
______
• the risk of a Type I errorA
• the risk of a Type II errorB
• how much difference there is between the two
treatmentsC
• whether the difference between the two
treatments is likely to have occurred by chanceD

33. Learning Check - Answer
• For an independent-measures research study,
the value of Cohen’s d or r2 helps to describe
______
• the risk of a Type I errorA
• the risk of a Type II errorB
• how much difference there is between the two
treatmentsC
• whether the difference between the two
treatments is likely to have occurred by chanceD

34. Learning Check
• Decide if each of the following statements
is True or False
• The homogeneity assumption requires
the two sample variances to be equalT/F
• If a researcher reports that t(6) = 1.98,
p > .05, then H0 was rejectedT/F

35. Learning Check - Answers
• The assumption requires equal
population variances but test is valid if
sample variances are similar
False
• H0 is rejected when p < .05, and
t > the critical value of tFalse

36. Figure 10.8 SPSS Output for the
Independent-Measures Test

37. Any
Questions
?
Concepts?
Equations?