t-test

M.Prasad Naidu
MSc Medical Biochemistry,
Ph.D,.

t test-origin
Founder WS Gosset
Wrote under the pseudonym Student
Mostly worked in tea (t) time
? Hence known as Student's t test.
Preferable when the n < 60
Certainly if n < 30

Is there a difference?
between youmeans,
who is meaner?
Statistical Analysis
control
group
mean
treatment
group
mean
Is there a difference?
Slide downloaded from the Internet
What does difference mean?
medium
variability
high
variability
low
variability
The mean difference
is the same for all
three cases
Slide downloaded from the Internet
What does difference mean?
medium
variability
high
variability
low
variability
Which one shows
the greatest
difference?
Slide downloaded from the Internet
What does difference mean?
a statistical difference is a function of the
difference between means relative to the
variability
a small difference between means with
large variability could be due to chance
like a signal-to-noise ratio
low
variability
Which one shows
the greatest
difference?
Slide downloaded from the Internet
So we estimate
low
variability
signal
noise
difference between group means
variability of groups
=
X
T
- X
C
SE(X
T
- X
C
)
=
=
t-value
_ _
_ _
Slide downloaded from the Internet
Probability - p
With t we check the probability
Reject or do not reject Null hypothesis
You reject if p < 0.05 or still less
Difference between means (groups) is
more & more significant if p is less &
less



Types

One sample
compare with population
Unpaired
compare with control
Paired
same subjects: pre-post
Z-test
large samples >60
Test direction

One tailed t test

Two tailed test

Mean systolic BP in nephritis is significantly
higher than of normal person
100 110 120 130 140
Mean systolic BP in nephritis is significantly
different from that of normal person
0.025 0.025

100 110 120 130 140
Slide downloaded from the Internet
Assumptions

Normal distribution


Equal variance


Random sampling

Otherwise prop-up data
Solutions

Normalize the data log conversion
Use other tests
- Welch test
- Cochranes modified t test
Use non-parametric test

Limitations - general

Fails to gauge magnitude of difference
between two means
(solution- do CI)

Only compares 2 groups
(solution- if> than 2 groups ANOVA)

Limitations paired t test

Doesnt control a No. of other variables
in a simple pre-post design
In many studies pre-test not possible
- mortality studies
With-in subject variation is introduced
twice
- e.g. in pain ratings


Hope! now your view on
statistics

should have changed It is
nothing but
Truth
1
Truth
2

SE (T
1
T
2
)

THANK YOU