Introduction

Of the 2012 graduating seniors in New York City, was there a significant difference between the
scores on the three subject tests of the SAT?

Methods
Factor: Subject Test
Levels: 3: Reading, Math, Writing
Response: SAT score

The sample size comprised 46,445 graduating seniors of the year 2012 in New York
City. Data was collected from Data.gov (2016). Data were analyzed and graphed with minitab.
ANOVA used to test for difference between means of the three subject tests of the SAT to
determine if there is a significant difference between at least two of the sample means.

Assumptions of ANOVA:
1. Population responses for all groups are Normally Distributed, the distributions of the residuals
are normal, 1/25/250
2. Populations are independent
3. Population responses for all groups have (approximately) Equal Standard Deviations
(homoscedasticity): x1x2x3

Assumption 1: Normality
Figure 1: Probability plot indicating that all three subject test datasets violate the assumption of
normality, according to Anderson-Darling test statistic.

Data Transformation
Due to all data representing non-normal distribution, data was transformed with Johnson
transformation:
Figure 2: Johnson Transformation for the Reading subject test scores results in normal
distribution
Figure 3: Johnson Transformation of Math Subject test scores results in normal distribution
Figure 4: Johnson Transformation of Writing subject test results in normal distribution.
Figure 5: Probability plot of Johnson transformed data indicates data has been transformed to
normal distributions, thus assumption of normality is met when using transformed data for
analysis.
Assumption 2: Independent Populations

Figure 6: Residuals vs. Fits graph indicates that data sets are from independent populations.
Each dataset represents scores from independent subject tests of the SAT.
Asssumption 3: Equal Variances

Figure 7: Bartlett's Test indicates that data sets meet assumption of equal variance (p=0.935).

With assumptions of ANOVA met, a One-Way ANOVA was performed at the 0.05 alpha
level.
Results

Figure 8: Individual boxplots of Johnson transformed scores for the three subject tests of the
SAT show somwhat similar means of three subject test of SAT.
Figure 9: Tukey 95% confidence intervals indicate no significant difference between the means
of the three subject tests of the SAT (Comparisons: 1. Math n.s.d. Reading, 2. Writing n.s.d. Writing,
3. Writing n.s.d.
Math)
Figure 10: The Power Analysis for these samples indicates a 0.19 probability of making a Type
II error.

Conclusion
With a low probability of making a Type II error, we can say with 95% confidence that of
the 2012 graduating seniors in New York City, there is not a significant difference between the
scores on the three subject tests of the SAT. Therefore, it can be deduced that high school
graduates within New York City receive a comprehensive education.

Reference
DATA.GOV. (2016). SAT Results. City of New York.
https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/sat-results-e88d7.