Dependent t-tests. Factors affecting statistical power in the t-test Statistical power ability to identify a statistically significant difference when

dependentt-tests

Factors affecting statistical power in the t-test

• Statistical power• ability to identify a statistically significant

difference when a difference between means actually exists

Decision Table: Correct

Ho TRUE Ho FALSE

Ho TRUE

Ho FALSE POWER

DECISION

REALITY

Truth is everlasting, but our ideas about truth are interchangeable


level• how much risk are YOU willing to take in

making a Type I error• Frank & Huck (1986, RQES): Why does

everyone use the 0.05 level of significance?

0.01

conservative

0.10

liberal

Power


level• df (number of subjects)

• affects variability associated with the sample mean & variability within the sample

• limited by time & money• GREATER n = GREATER POWER

(point of diminishing return)

Statistics Humour One day there was a fire in a wastebasket in the

Dean's office and in rushed a physicist, a chemist,

and a statistician. The physicist immediately

starts to work on how much energy would have to be

removed from the fire to stop the combustion. The

chemist works on which reagent would have to be

added to the fire to prevent oxidation. While they are

doing this, the statistician is setting fires to all the other

wastebaskets in the office. "What are you doing?" they

demanded. "Well to solve the problem, obviously you

need a large sample size" the statistician replies.


level• df (number of subjects)• magnitude of the mean difference

• how different are the treatments imposed• measurement errors• sampling errors• SIZE OF THE TREATMENT EFFECT


level• df (number of subjects)• magnitude of the mean difference• variability

• how specified is your population• control of extraneous variables

Estimated Standard Error of the Difference between 2 independent means

SESEs mymxdm

22

t-test for independent samples

Smaller is better

stdm

obs

YX

Comparing paired (correlated) measures instead of group (uncorrelated) measures

• Match subjects• what factors (variables) might affect time to

exhaustion on the exercise bike• daily diet? Fitness level? Genetics?• Height? Weight? Age?• Regular training program?


• Match subjects• Repeated measures

• measure the SAME subject under both protocols

• test & retest• pre & posttest• condition 1 & condition 2



Subject

serves as own

Control



Subject serves as own Control

Intra-subject variability

should be LESS than

Inter-subject variability

Dependent t-test(paired or correlated t-

test)

• Pairs of scores are matched• same subject in 2 conditions or matched

subjects

• Question: Does ankle bracing affect load during landing?• IV: brace condition• DV: Vertical GRF

Steps to dependent t-test

• Set (0.05)• Set sample size

• One randomly selected group• n = 7

• condition 1: Brace• condition 2: No brace

• Set Ho (null hypothesis)

Set statistical hypotheses

• Ho

• Null hypothesis• Any observed

difference between the two conditions will be attributable to random sampling error.

• HA

• Alternative hypothesis

• If Ho is rejected, the difference is not attributable to random sampling error

• perhaps brace???

Steps to independent t-test

• Set (0.05)• Set sample size (n = 7)• Set Ho

• Test each subject in both conditions with a standardized protocol (drop landings)• Note: condition performance order is

randomized across subjects

GRF data



• Test each subject in both conditions• Calculate descriptive statistics of each

condition• scattergram• mean, SD, n

No Brace

1614121086420

An

kle

Bra

ce

20

18

16

14

12

10

8

6

Figure 1. Scattergram of vertical GRF during

landing in different brace conditions (N/kg)

Descriptive statistics for atble401.sav data

Group n Mean SD

No brace 7 8.0 4.3

brace 7 10.9 3.5



• Test each subject in both conditions• Calculate descriptive statistics of each

condition• compare the condition means

How to compare the condition means

• Even if the two conditions were the same (samples drawn from the same population), would not expect the statistics to be the same

• Need a measure of expected variability against which the mean of the difference between paired scores (Xi - Yi) could be compared

Paired scores, so the data are somewhat correlated

• Calculate the difference between the two conditions for each case (Xi - Yi)

• Calculate the Mean Difference• Use the correlation among the pairs of

scores to reduce the error term (denominator) used to evaluate the difference between the means

t-test for dependent (paired)

samples

t =

Mdiff

SEMD

GRF data

Subject No brace Brace X - Y1 5 8 -32 10 12 -23 11 10 14 6 9 -35 15 18 -36 7 11 -47 2 8 -6

= -20

Mean Diff = -2.9


samples

t =

Mdiff

SEMD

Standard error

of the

Mean difference for Paired Scores

Estimated Standard Error of the Difference between 2 dependent means

SESESESEs mymxdmrmymx 2

22

?

Estimated Standard Error of the Difference between 2 dependent means

SESESESEs mymxdmrmymx 2

22

If r = 0, this term reduces

to the same equation as

for independent groups


samples

t =

Mdiff

SEMD

df = ??


samples

t =

Mdiff

SEMD

df = npairs - 1

Running the dependent t-test with SPSS

• Enter the data as pairs • atble401.sav

Reporting paired t-test outcome

Group n Mean SD

No brace 7 8.0 4.3

brace 7 10.9 3.5

Table 1. Descriptive statistics of vertical ground reaction

force (in N/kg) for the two conditions (n = 7)

Reporting t-test outcome

0

5

10

15

20

No Brace Braced

Brace Condition

Ve

rtic

al G

RF

(N/k

g)

*

Figure 1. Mean vertical GRF in the two conditions

(* p 0.05)

Reporting t-test in textDescriptive statistics of the vertical ground reaction force

(VGRF) data during landing in the two braced conditions

are presented in Table 1 and graphically in Figure 1. A

paired t-test indicated that the mean VGRF of 10.9

(SD = 3.5) N/kg in the braced condition was significantly

higher ( = 0.05) than the mean VGRF of 8.0 (4.3) N/kg

in the unbraced condition (t6 = 3.57, p = 0.012). The

mean difference of 2.9 N/kg represents a 36% higher

VGRF during the landings with a brace compared to

without a brace.

What if you set = 0.01?

Descriptive statistics of the vertical ground reaction force




(SD = 3.5) N/kg in the braced condition was ...

What if you set = 0.01?Descriptive statistics of the vertical ground reaction force




(SD = 3.5) N/kg in the braced condition was significantly

higher ( = 0.01) than the mean VGRF of 8.0 (4.3) N/kg

in the unbraced condition (t6 = 3.57, p = 0.012). The

mean difference of 2.9 N/kg represents a 36% higher

VGRF during the landings with a brace compared to

without a brace.

not

Statistics Humour

A student set forth on a quest

To learn which of the world’s beers was best

But his wallet was dried out

At the first pub he tried out

With two samples he flunked the means test

Gehlbach, SH (2002)

Interpreting the medical literature

Summary: both t-tests are of the form:

t = Standard Error

Mean Difference

To increase statistical power

t = Standard Error

Mean Difference

Maximize

Minimize

Choosing which t-test to use

• Independent• no correlation

between the two groups

• Dependent• two sets of data (pair

of scores) from matched subjects or from the same subject (repeated measures)

• data are correlated

Time for Lunch

Documents

Dependent t-tests. Factors affecting statistical power in the t-test Statistical power ability to identify a statistically significant difference when