Research Methods 2

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Topic 9: Comparing two groups: I the t-tests (Week 10)

Aims
To understand how the ideas of hypothesis testing are applied to Normally distributed data.

Objectives

To know how to use Minitab to apply an unpaired t-test.

To understand the difference between a paired and an unpaired t-test.

To be able to apply both tests using Minitab

To know the assumptions underlying these tests and the importance of these assumptions

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This week there are two documents to be studied, with an exercise sheet for each.  The first concerns the practical application of  hypothesis testing to unpaired, Normally distributed data.

• Study the document Comparing two groups: I the unpaired t-test, which explains the ideas behind this test.
• Answer the questions in Exercise Sheet 1.
• You should check your answers by referring to the Solutions to Exercise Sheet 1.

The next document considers the paired t-test.

• Study the document Comparing two groups: II the paired t-test, which deals with the paired version of the test.
• Answer the questions in Exercise Sheet 2.
• You should check your answers by referring to the Solutions to Exercise Sheet 2.

Further reading on the topics addressed this week can be found in Bland, chapter 10 (up to section 6)