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Statistics vocabulary · Hypothesis Testing

T-test

Meaning in statistics, with examples

/ˈtiː test/nounCore term

In statistics, t-test means: A hypothesis test that compares means: one group's mean with a fixed value, the means of two independent groups, or two measurements of the same people.

In Turkish: t testi, Student t testi

How it is used

The three main types are the one-sample, independent-samples and paired-samples t-test. Results are reported as t(df) = value, p = …, for example 't(58) = 2.14, p = .037'. Welch's version is used when the two groups have unequal variances.

Example sentences

  1. An independent-samples t-test showed that the treatment group improved more than the control group, t(58) = 2.14, p = .037.

  2. Use a paired t-test, because the same patients were measured before and after treatment.

Common collocations

  • run a t-test
  • independent-samples t-test
  • paired t-test
  • one-sample t-test
  • Welch's t-test
  • ANOVAShort for analysis of variance: a family of tests that compare the means of three or more groups at once by comparing variation between the groups with variation within them.
  • degrees of freedomThe number of values in a calculation that are free to vary once certain constraints are fixed; it sets the exact shape of distributions such as t, chi-square and F.
  • meanThe sum of all the values divided by the number of values; the usual 'average' that describes the centre of a set of numbers.
  • nonparametric testA test that does not assume the data follow a specific distribution such as the normal, often working with ranks instead of the raw values.
  • assumptionA condition that must hold, at least approximately, for a statistical test or model to give valid results, such as normality, equal variances or independent observations.

More terms: Hypothesis Testing

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