To test or not to test: preliminary assessment of normality when comparing two independent samples

Student’s two-sample t test is generally used for comparing the means of two independent samples, for example, two treatment arms. Under the null hypothesis, the t test assumes that the two samples arise from the same normally distributed population with unknown variance. Adequate control of the Typ...

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Hauptverfasser: Rochon, Justine (VerfasserIn) , Gondan, Matthias (VerfasserIn) , Kieser, Meinhard (VerfasserIn)
Dokumenttyp: Article (Journal)
Sprache:Englisch
Veröffentlicht: 19 June 2012
In: BMC medical research methodology
Year: 2012, Jahrgang: 12
ISSN:1471-2288
DOI:10.1186/1471-2288-12-81
Online-Zugang:Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-12-81
Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-12-81
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Verfasserangaben:Justine Rochon, Matthias Gondan and Meinhard Kieser
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:Student’s two-sample t test is generally used for comparing the means of two independent samples, for example, two treatment arms. Under the null hypothesis, the t test assumes that the two samples arise from the same normally distributed population with unknown variance. Adequate control of the Type I error requires that the normality assumption holds, which is often examined by means of a preliminary Shapiro-Wilk test. The following two-stage procedure is widely accepted: If the preliminary test for normality is not significant, the t test is used; if the preliminary test rejects the null hypothesis of normality, a nonparametric test is applied in the main analysis.
Beschreibung:Gesehen am 16.07.2018
Beschreibung:Online Resource
ISSN:1471-2288
DOI:10.1186/1471-2288-12-81