On this page, you will learn the difference between one- and two-tailed

tests.

• One-tailed tests
• Two-tailed tests
• Switching between one- & two-tailed tables

One-tailed tests

In the previous pages, you learned how to perform define the hypothesis
for a statistical test, then to perform a t-test to compare means. In
the example t-test we performed, we defined an alternate hypothesis to
test whether one mean was greater than the other: μ > μ0.

In this situation, we tested whether one mean was higher than the other.
We were not interested in whether the first mean was lower than the
other, only if it was higher. So we were only interested in one side of the
probability distribution, which is shown in the image below:

In this distribution, the shaded region shows the area represented by the
null hypothesis, H0: μ = μ0. This actually implies μ ≤ μ0, since the only
unshaded region in the image shows μ > μ0. Because we were only
interested in one side of the distribution, or one "tail", this type of test is
called a one-sided or a one-tailed test. When you are using tables for
probability distributions, you should make sure whether they are for
one-tailed or two-tailed tests. Depending on which they are for, you
need to know how to switch to the one you need. This is all explained
below.

A one-tailed test uses an alternate hypothesis that states

either H1: μ > μ0 OR H1: μ < μ0, but not both. If you want to test both,
using the alternate hypothesisH1: μ ≠ μ0, then you need to use a two-
tailed test.

Two-tailed tests

We would use a two-tailed test to see if two means are different from
each other (ie from different populations), or from the same population.
As an example, let's assume that we want to check if the pH of a stream
has changed significantly in the past year. A water sample from the
stream was analyzed using a pH electrode, where six samples were
taken. It was found that the mean pH reading was 6.5 with standard
deviation sold = 0.2. A year later, six more samples were analyzed, and the
mean pH of these readings was 6.8 with standard deviation sold = 0.1.

Example 1

We could use a one-tailed test, to see if the stream has a higher pH than
one year ago, for which we would use the alternate
hypothesis HA: μprev < μcurrent. However, we may want a more rigorous test,
for the hypothesis that HA: μprev ≠ μcurrent. This would mean that
both HA: μprev < μcurrent and HA: μprev >μcurrent were satisfied, and we could be
sure that there is a significant difference between the means. The
probability distribution for a 90% confidence level, two-tailed test looks
like this:

Continuing the example, we define the null hypothesis H0: μprev = μcurrent,
and the alternate hypothesis HA: μprev ≠ μcurrent. The d.o.f. for a two sample
mean t-test is ν = 7.35 ≈ 7, since the d.o.f. must be a whole number.
The t-value for the two sample test is
If we consult a two-tailed t-test table, for a 95% confidence limit, we find
that t7,95% = 2.36. Since tcalc > t7,95%, we reject the null hypothesis, accept the
alternate hypothesis that μprev ≠ μcurrent, and can say that the means are
significantly different.

Using Tables for One- and Two-Tailed Tests

Some tables of critical t-values only give you the values for either a one-
or two-tailed test, but not both. Because of this, you will need to know
how to use one-tailed tables for two-tailed tests, and vice versa. The
conversion is actually quite simple:

Table you have Operation

One-tailed Divide P by 2
Two-tailed Multiply P by 2

For example, assume you have a table to a one-tail test at the 98%
confidence level and want to perform a two-tailed test. For the 98%
confidence level, P = 0.02. Divide P by 2 to get 0.01, which is a 99%
confidence level. So you would compare tcalc to the value from the 98%
one-tailed table, and it would be equivalent to a two-tailed test at the
99% confidence level.