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What Statistical Test Do I Need?: Key Words

This document discusses choosing appropriate statistical tests based on research questions and variable types. It defines variable types like continuous, categorical, independent and dependent. Parametric tests have assumptions like normality, while non-parametric tests don't. A table shows which statistical tests to use depending on variable types and the comparison being made, such as comparing group means, relationships between variables, and predicting outcomes. Examples demonstrate applying the appropriate test based on the research question, variables, and their characteristics.

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Sasank Sai
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79 views

What Statistical Test Do I Need?: Key Words

This document discusses choosing appropriate statistical tests based on research questions and variable types. It defines variable types like continuous, categorical, independent and dependent. Parametric tests have assumptions like normality, while non-parametric tests don't. A table shows which statistical tests to use depending on variable types and the comparison being made, such as comparing group means, relationships between variables, and predicting outcomes. Examples demonstrate applying the appropriate test based on the research question, variables, and their characteristics.

Uploaded by

Sasank Sai
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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WHAT STATISTICAL TEST DO I NEED?

Deciding on appropriate statistical methods for your research:


What is your research question?
Which variables will help you answer your research question and which is the dependent variable?
What type of variables are they?
Which statistical test is most appropriate? Should a parametric or non-parametric test be used?

KEY WORDS:
VARIABLE: Characteristic which varies between independent subjects.
CATEGORICAL VARIABLES: variables such as gender with limited values. They can be further
categorised into NOMINAL (naming variables where one category is no better than another e.g. hair
colour) and ORDINAL, (where there is some order to the categories e.g. 1 st, 2nd, 3rd etc).
CONTINUOUS (SCALE) VARIABLES: Measurements on a proper scale such as age, height etc.
INDEPENDENT VARIABLE: The variable we think has an effect on the dependent variable.
DEPENDENT VARIABLE: The variable of interest which could be influenced by independent variables.
PARAMETRIC TESTS: there are various assumptions for parametric tests including the assumption
that continuous dependent variables are normally distributed. There are specific tests for this within
packages such as SPSS but plotting a histogram is also a good guide. As long as the histogram of the
dependent variable peaks in the middle and is roughly symmetrical about the mean, we can assume
the data is normally distributed (see examples below).

Example of data which is approximately normally distributed

Example of skewed data

Comparing:

Dependent
variable

Independent
variable

Parametric test
(Dependent
variable is
normally
distributed)

Non-parametric test

The means of two


INDEPENDENT groups

Continuous/
scale

Categorical/
nominal

Independent ttest

Mann-Whitney test

The means of 2 paired


(matched) samples e.g.
weight before and after a diet
for one group of subjects

Continuous/
scale

Time variable
(time 1 =
before, time
2 = after)

Paired t-test

Wilcoxon signed rank


test

The means of 3+ independent


groups

Continuous/
scale

Categorical/
nominal

One-way ANOVA

Kruskal-Wallis test

The 3+ measurements on the


same subject

Continuous/
scale

Time variable

Repeated
measures ANOVA

Friedman test

Relationship between 2
continuous variables

Continuous/
scale

Continuous/
scale

Pearsons
Correlation Coefficient

Spearmans
Correlation Coefficient (also use for
ordinal data)

Predicting the value of one


Continuous/ Any
Simple Linear
variable from the value of a
scale
Regression
predictor variable
Assessing the relationship
Categorical/
Categorical/
between two categorical
nominal
nominal
variables
Note: The table only shows the most common tests for simple analysis of data.

Chi-squared test

Examples:
Are height and weight related? Both are continuous variables so Pearsons Correlation Co-efficient would
be appropriate if the variables are both normally distributed.
Can height predict weight? You cannot determine height from weight but you could estimate weight
given height so height is the continuous independent variable. Simple linear regression will help decide if
weight is a good predictor of height and produce an equation to predict weight given an individuals
height.
Is Diet 1 better than Diet 2? A researcher would randomly allocate subjects to two groups with one group
following Diet 1 and the other Diet 2. Weight would be taken before and after the diet and the mean
weight lost compared for the two groups. The dependent variable weight lost is continuous and the
independent variable is the group the subject is in which is categorical. If the data is normally
distributed, use the independent t-test, if not use the Mann-Whitney test.
Are patients taking treatment A more likely to recover than those on treatment B? Both Treatment (A
or B) and Recovery (Yes or No) are categorical variables so the Chi-squared test is appropriate.

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