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T-Tests For Dummies

As in the books, not you personally!


From Yesterdays Notes
Note that the numerator of the formula for t is the
difference between the means. The denominator is a
measure of the experimental error in the two groups
combined. The wider the difference between the
means, the more confident you are in the data. The
more experimental error you have, the less confident
you are in the data. Thus, the higher the value of t, the
greater the confidence that there is a difference.
So, the t value gives you a statistical measure of (a
degree of) how different your two means are, based on
the size of your samples.
Bar Plots
Sometimes it is easy to observe a difference
between two means by using a bar plot, for
example:



But thats not enough!
You need to use a statistical test for proof.
So you calculate two means and see that they
are different SO WHAT!!??
What you really should be asking, is:

Is the fact that there is an observed
difference between the two means significant,
or not?

Well, to determine the answer to this
question, we need something to compare to.
So we use the t-table: a set of statistical
measures of the amount of difference
between two means that you can expect to
see due to random sampling (chance)
These measures are based on the size of the
samples specifically, what we calculate as
the degrees of freedom
Now, as with any statistical measure, there is
going to be some degree of error.
So, the t-table gives the expected t-values due
to chance in terms of particular probabilities
(it gives a measure of mean difference due to
chance with different degrees of error)
In biology, we are generally concerned with
p=0.05 (in other words, 95% confidence), and
p=0.01 (or 99% confidence).

Putting it all together
So lets say for example that you take two
samples of size 10 and calculate their means.
You see that the means are different and use the
null hypothesis as a basis for your t-test (as any
skilled scientist would do)
You calculate your t-value and obtain 4.73 (right
off the bat, for a sample size of 10, you should be
thinking: wow! thats a large t-score)
So youre thinking that the difference you
observed between the means is significant
WELL PROVE IT!!!!
THE PROOF
So you consult your trusty t-table and see that
for 18 d.f., your calculated t-value exceeds ALL
of the theoretical t-values listed in the table
(by A LOT, I might mention)
So what, then, do you conclude?
THE PROOF
Well, the fact that your t-value (a measure of the
degree of difference in your means) exceeds the
critical values in the table (measures of the
degree of difference b/w means due to chance)
means that the difference b/w the sample means
that you observed IS SIGNIFICANT!
So you REJECT the null hypothesis that there is no
difference, and accept your alternative
hypothesis that there is a difference between
your means (and that its not due to sampling
error or chance!)

TEST TIME!
Clear off your desks!
Stop reading this powerpoint!
Get your calculators out!
Good luck!!!!!!!

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