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1
2[section:st_eg Student's t Distribution Examples]
3
4[section:tut_mean_intervals Calculating confidence intervals on the mean with the Students-t distribution]
5
6Let's say you have a sample mean, you may wish to know what confidence intervals
7you can place on that mean. Colloquially: "I want an interval that I can be
8P% sure contains the true mean". (On a technical point, note that
9the interval either contains the true mean or it does not: the
10meaning of the confidence level is subtly
11different from this colloquialism. More background information can be found on the
12[@http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook/eda/section3/eda352.htm NIST site]).
13
14The formula for the interval can be expressed as:
15
16[equation dist_tutorial4]
17
18Where, ['Y[sub s]] is the sample mean, /s/ is the sample standard deviation,
19/N/ is the sample size, /[alpha]/ is the desired significance level and
20['t[sub ([alpha]/2,N-1)]] is the upper critical value of the Students-t
21distribution with /N-1/ degrees of freedom.
22
23[note
24The quantity [alpha][space] is the maximum acceptable risk of falsely rejecting
25the null-hypothesis. The smaller the value of [alpha] the greater the
26strength of the test.
27
28The confidence level of the test is defined as 1 - [alpha], and often expressed
29as a percentage. So for example a significance level of 0.05, is equivalent
30to a 95% confidence level. Refer to
31[@http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook/prc/section1/prc14.htm
32"What are confidence intervals?"] in __handbook for more information.
33] [/ Note]
34
35[note
36The usual assumptions of
37[@http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_and_identically-distributed_random_variables independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.)]
38variables and [@http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_distribution normal distribution]
39of course apply here, as they do in other examples.
40]
41
42From the formula, it should be clear that:
43
44* The width of the confidence interval decreases as the sample size increases.
45* The width increases as the standard deviation increases.
46* The width increases as the ['confidence level increases] (0.5 towards 0.99999 - stronger).
47* The width increases as the ['significance level decreases] (0.5 towards 0.00000...01 - stronger).
48
49The following example code is taken from the example program
50[@../../example/students_t_single_sample.cpp students_t_single_sample.cpp].
51
52We'll begin by defining a procedure to calculate intervals for
53various confidence levels; the procedure will print these out
54as a table:
55
56 // Needed includes:
57 #include <boost/math/distributions/students_t.hpp>
58 #include <iostream>
59 #include <iomanip>
60 // Bring everything into global namespace for ease of use:
61 using namespace boost::math;
62 using namespace std;
63
64 void confidence_limits_on_mean(
65 double Sm, // Sm = Sample Mean.
66 double Sd, // Sd = Sample Standard Deviation.
67 unsigned Sn) // Sn = Sample Size.
68 {
69 using namespace std;
70 using namespace boost::math;
71
72 // Print out general info:
73 cout <<
74 "__________________________________\n"
75 "2-Sided Confidence Limits For Mean\n"
76 "__________________________________\n\n";
77 cout << setprecision(7);
78 cout << setw(40) << left << "Number of Observations" << "= " << Sn << "\n";
79 cout << setw(40) << left << "Mean" << "= " << Sm << "\n";
80 cout << setw(40) << left << "Standard Deviation" << "= " << Sd << "\n";
81
82We'll define a table of significance/risk levels for which we'll compute intervals:
83
84 double alpha[] = { 0.5, 0.25, 0.1, 0.05, 0.01, 0.001, 0.0001, 0.00001 };
85
86Note that these are the complements of the confidence/probability levels: 0.5, 0.75, 0.9 .. 0.99999).
87
88Next we'll declare the distribution object we'll need, note that
89the /degrees of freedom/ parameter is the sample size less one:
90
91 students_t dist(Sn - 1);
92
93Most of what follows in the program is pretty printing, so let's focus
94on the calculation of the interval. First we need the t-statistic,
95computed using the /quantile/ function and our significance level. Note
96that since the significance levels are the complement of the probability,
97we have to wrap the arguments in a call to /complement(...)/:
98
99 double T = quantile(complement(dist, alpha[i] / 2));
100
101Note that alpha was divided by two, since we'll be calculating
102both the upper and lower bounds: had we been interested in a single
103sided interval then we would have omitted this step.
104
105Now to complete the picture, we'll get the (one-sided) width of the
106interval from the t-statistic
107by multiplying by the standard deviation, and dividing by the square
108root of the sample size:
109
110 double w = T * Sd / sqrt(double(Sn));
111
112The two-sided interval is then the sample mean plus and minus this width.
113
114And apart from some more pretty-printing that completes the procedure.
115
116Let's take a look at some sample output, first using the
117[@http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook/eda/section4/eda428.htm
118Heat flow data] from the NIST site. The data set was collected
119by Bob Zarr of NIST in January, 1990 from a heat flow meter
120calibration and stability analysis.
121The corresponding dataplot
122output for this test can be found in
123[@http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook/eda/section3/eda352.htm
124section 3.5.2] of the __handbook.
125
126[pre'''
127 __________________________________
128 2-Sided Confidence Limits For Mean
129 __________________________________
130
131 Number of Observations = 195
132 Mean = 9.26146
133 Standard Deviation = 0.02278881
134
135
136 ___________________________________________________________________
137 Confidence T Interval Lower Upper
138 Value (%) Value Width Limit Limit
139 ___________________________________________________________________
140 50.000 0.676 1.103e-003 9.26036 9.26256
141 75.000 1.154 1.883e-003 9.25958 9.26334
142 90.000 1.653 2.697e-003 9.25876 9.26416
143 95.000 1.972 3.219e-003 9.25824 9.26468
144 99.000 2.601 4.245e-003 9.25721 9.26571
145 99.900 3.341 5.453e-003 9.25601 9.26691
146 99.990 3.973 6.484e-003 9.25498 9.26794
147 99.999 4.537 7.404e-003 9.25406 9.26886
148''']
149
150As you can see the large sample size (195) and small standard deviation (0.023)
151have combined to give very small intervals, indeed we can be
152very confident that the true mean is 9.2.
153
154For comparison the next example data output is taken from
155['P.K.Hou, O. W. Lau & M.C. Wong, Analyst (1983) vol. 108, p 64.
156and from Statistics for Analytical Chemistry, 3rd ed. (1994), pp 54-55
157J. C. Miller and J. N. Miller, Ellis Horwood ISBN 0 13 0309907.]
158The values result from the determination of mercury by cold-vapour
159atomic absorption.
160
161[pre'''
162 __________________________________
163 2-Sided Confidence Limits For Mean
164 __________________________________
165
166 Number of Observations = 3
167 Mean = 37.8000000
168 Standard Deviation = 0.9643650
169
170
171 ___________________________________________________________________
172 Confidence T Interval Lower Upper
173 Value (%) Value Width Limit Limit
174 ___________________________________________________________________
175 50.000 0.816 0.455 37.34539 38.25461
176 75.000 1.604 0.893 36.90717 38.69283
177 90.000 2.920 1.626 36.17422 39.42578
178 95.000 4.303 2.396 35.40438 40.19562
179 99.000 9.925 5.526 32.27408 43.32592
180 99.900 31.599 17.594 20.20639 55.39361
181 99.990 99.992 55.673 -17.87346 93.47346
182 99.999 316.225 176.067 -138.26683 213.86683
183''']
184
185This time the fact that there are only three measurements leads to
186much wider intervals, indeed such large intervals that it's hard
187to be very confident in the location of the mean.
188
189[endsect]
190
191[section:tut_mean_test Testing a sample mean for difference from a "true" mean]
192
193When calibrating or comparing a scientific instrument or measurement method of some kind,
194we want to be answer the question "Does an observed sample mean differ from the
195"true" mean in any significant way?". If it does, then we have evidence of
196a systematic difference. This question can be answered with a Students-t test:
197more information can be found
198[@http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook/eda/section3/eda352.htm
199on the NIST site].
200
201Of course, the assignment of "true" to one mean may be quite arbitrary,
202often this is simply a "traditional" method of measurement.
203
204The following example code is taken from the example program
205[@../../example/students_t_single_sample.cpp students_t_single_sample.cpp].
206
207We'll begin by defining a procedure to determine which of the
208possible hypothesis are rejected or not-rejected
209at a given significance level:
210
211[note
212Non-statisticians might say 'not-rejected' means 'accepted',
213(often of the null-hypothesis) implying, wrongly, that there really *IS* no difference,
214but statisticans eschew this to avoid implying that there is positive evidence of 'no difference'.
215'Not-rejected' here means there is *no evidence* of difference, but there still might well be a difference.
216For example, see [@http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_ignorance argument from ignorance] and
217[@http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/311/7003/485 Absence of evidence does not constitute evidence of absence.]
218] [/ note]
219
220
221 // Needed includes:
222 #include <boost/math/distributions/students_t.hpp>
223 #include <iostream>
224 #include <iomanip>
225 // Bring everything into global namespace for ease of use:
226 using namespace boost::math;
227 using namespace std;
228
229 void single_sample_t_test(double M, double Sm, double Sd, unsigned Sn, double alpha)
230 {
231 //
232 // M = true mean.
233 // Sm = Sample Mean.
234 // Sd = Sample Standard Deviation.
235 // Sn = Sample Size.
236 // alpha = Significance Level.
237
238Most of the procedure is pretty-printing, so let's just focus on the
239calculation, we begin by calculating the t-statistic:
240
241 // Difference in means:
242 double diff = Sm - M;
243 // Degrees of freedom:
244 unsigned v = Sn - 1;
245 // t-statistic:
246 double t_stat = diff * sqrt(double(Sn)) / Sd;
247
248Finally calculate the probability from the t-statistic. If we're interested
249in simply whether there is a difference (either less or greater) or not,
250we don't care about the sign of the t-statistic,
251and we take the complement of the probability for comparison
252to the significance level:
253
254 students_t dist(v);
255 double q = cdf(complement(dist, fabs(t_stat)));
256
257The procedure then prints out the results of the various tests
258that can be done, these
259can be summarised in the following table:
260
261[table
262[[Hypothesis][Test]]
263[[The Null-hypothesis: there is
264*no difference* in means]
265[Reject if complement of CDF for |t| < significance level / 2:
266
267`cdf(complement(dist, fabs(t))) < alpha / 2`]]
268
269[[The Alternative-hypothesis: there
270*is difference* in means]
271[Reject if complement of CDF for |t| > significance level / 2:
272
273`cdf(complement(dist, fabs(t))) > alpha / 2`]]
274
275[[The Alternative-hypothesis: the sample mean *is less* than
276the true mean.]
277[Reject if CDF of t > 1 - significance level:
278
279`cdf(complement(dist, t)) < alpha`]]
280
281[[The Alternative-hypothesis: the sample mean *is greater* than
282the true mean.]
283[Reject if complement of CDF of t < significance level:
284
285`cdf(dist, t) < alpha`]]
286]
287
288[note
289Notice that the comparisons are against `alpha / 2` for a two-sided test
290and against `alpha` for a one-sided test]
291
292Now that we have all the parts in place, let's take a look at some
293sample output, first using the
294[@http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook/eda/section4/eda428.htm
295Heat flow data] from the NIST site. The data set was collected
296by Bob Zarr of NIST in January, 1990 from a heat flow meter
297calibration and stability analysis. The corresponding dataplot
298output for this test can be found in
299[@http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook/eda/section3/eda352.htm
300section 3.5.2] of the __handbook.
301
302[pre
303__________________________________
304Student t test for a single sample
305__________________________________
306
307Number of Observations = 195
308Sample Mean = 9.26146
309Sample Standard Deviation = 0.02279
310Expected True Mean = 5.00000
311
312Sample Mean - Expected Test Mean = 4.26146
313Degrees of Freedom = 194
314T Statistic = 2611.28380
315Probability that difference is due to chance = 0.000e+000
316
317Results for Alternative Hypothesis and alpha = 0.0500
318
319Alternative Hypothesis Conclusion
320Mean != 5.000 NOT REJECTED
321Mean < 5.000 REJECTED
322Mean > 5.000 NOT REJECTED
323]
324
325You will note the line that says the probability that the difference is
326due to chance is zero. From a philosophical point of view, of course,
327the probability can never reach zero. However, in this case the calculated
328probability is smaller than the smallest representable double precision number,
329hence the appearance of a zero here. Whatever its "true" value is, we know it
330must be extraordinarily small, so the alternative hypothesis - that there is
331a difference in means - is not rejected.
332
333For comparison the next example data output is taken from
334['P.K.Hou, O. W. Lau & M.C. Wong, Analyst (1983) vol. 108, p 64.
335and from Statistics for Analytical Chemistry, 3rd ed. (1994), pp 54-55
336J. C. Miller and J. N. Miller, Ellis Horwood ISBN 0 13 0309907.]
337The values result from the determination of mercury by cold-vapour
338atomic absorption.
339
340[pre
341__________________________________
342Student t test for a single sample
343__________________________________
344
345Number of Observations = 3
346Sample Mean = 37.80000
347Sample Standard Deviation = 0.96437
348Expected True Mean = 38.90000
349
350Sample Mean - Expected Test Mean = -1.10000
351Degrees of Freedom = 2
352T Statistic = -1.97566
353Probability that difference is due to chance = 1.869e-001
354
355Results for Alternative Hypothesis and alpha = 0.0500
356
357Alternative Hypothesis Conclusion
358Mean != 38.900 REJECTED
359Mean < 38.900 NOT REJECTED
360Mean > 38.900 NOT REJECTED
361]
362
363As you can see the small number of measurements (3) has led to a large uncertainty
364in the location of the true mean. So even though there appears to be a difference
365between the sample mean and the expected true mean, we conclude that there
366is no significant difference, and are unable to reject the null hypothesis.
367However, if we were to lower the bar for acceptance down to alpha = 0.1
368(a 90% confidence level) we see a different output:
369
370[pre
371__________________________________
372Student t test for a single sample
373__________________________________
374
375Number of Observations = 3
376Sample Mean = 37.80000
377Sample Standard Deviation = 0.96437
378Expected True Mean = 38.90000
379
380Sample Mean - Expected Test Mean = -1.10000
381Degrees of Freedom = 2
382T Statistic = -1.97566
383Probability that difference is due to chance = 1.869e-001
384
385Results for Alternative Hypothesis and alpha = 0.1000
386
387Alternative Hypothesis Conclusion
388Mean != 38.900 REJECTED
389Mean < 38.900 NOT REJECTED
390Mean > 38.900 REJECTED
391]
392
393In this case, we really have a borderline result,
394and more data (and/or more accurate data),
395is needed for a more convincing conclusion.
396
397[endsect]
398
399[section:tut_mean_size Estimating how large a sample size would have to become
400in order to give a significant Students-t test result with a single sample test]
401
402Imagine you have conducted a Students-t test on a single sample in order
403to check for systematic errors in your measurements. Imagine that the
404result is borderline. At this point one might go off and collect more data,
405but it might be prudent to first ask the question "How much more?".
406The parameter estimators of the students_t_distribution class
407can provide this information.
408
409This section is based on the example code in
410[@../../example/students_t_single_sample.cpp students_t_single_sample.cpp]
411and we begin by defining a procedure that will print out a table of
412estimated sample sizes for various confidence levels:
413
414 // Needed includes:
415 #include <boost/math/distributions/students_t.hpp>
416 #include <iostream>
417 #include <iomanip>
418 // Bring everything into global namespace for ease of use:
419 using namespace boost::math;
420 using namespace std;
421
422 void single_sample_find_df(
423 double M, // M = true mean.
424 double Sm, // Sm = Sample Mean.
425 double Sd) // Sd = Sample Standard Deviation.
426 {
427
428Next we define a table of significance levels:
429
430 double alpha[] = { 0.5, 0.25, 0.1, 0.05, 0.01, 0.001, 0.0001, 0.00001 };
431
432Printing out the table of sample sizes required for various confidence levels
433begins with the table header:
434
435 cout << "\n\n"
436 "_______________________________________________________________\n"
437 "Confidence Estimated Estimated\n"
438 " Value (%) Sample Size Sample Size\n"
439 " (one sided test) (two sided test)\n"
440 "_______________________________________________________________\n";
441
442
443And now the important part: the sample sizes required. Class
444`students_t_distribution` has a static member function
445`find_degrees_of_freedom` that will calculate how large
446a sample size needs to be in order to give a definitive result.
447
448The first argument is the difference between the means that you
449wish to be able to detect, here it's the absolute value of the
450difference between the sample mean, and the true mean.
451
452Then come two probability values: alpha and beta. Alpha is the
453maximum acceptable risk of rejecting the null-hypothesis when it is
454in fact true. Beta is the maximum acceptable risk of failing to reject
455the null-hypothesis when in fact it is false.
456Also note that for a two-sided test, alpha must be divided by 2.
457
458The final parameter of the function is the standard deviation of the sample.
459
460In this example, we assume that alpha and beta are the same, and call
461`find_degrees_of_freedom` twice: once with alpha for a one-sided test,
462and once with alpha/2 for a two-sided test.
463
464 for(unsigned i = 0; i < sizeof(alpha)/sizeof(alpha[0]); ++i)
465 {
466 // Confidence value:
467 cout << fixed << setprecision(3) << setw(10) << right << 100 * (1-alpha[i]);
468 // calculate df for single sided test:
469 double df = students_t::find_degrees_of_freedom(
470 fabs(M - Sm), alpha[i], alpha[i], Sd);
471 // convert to sample size:
472 double size = ceil(df) + 1;
473 // Print size:
474 cout << fixed << setprecision(0) << setw(16) << right << size;
475 // calculate df for two sided test:
476 df = students_t::find_degrees_of_freedom(
477 fabs(M - Sm), alpha[i]/2, alpha[i], Sd);
478 // convert to sample size:
479 size = ceil(df) + 1;
480 // Print size:
481 cout << fixed << setprecision(0) << setw(16) << right << size << endl;
482 }
483 cout << endl;
484 }
485
486Let's now look at some sample output using data taken from
487['P.K.Hou, O. W. Lau & M.C. Wong, Analyst (1983) vol. 108, p 64.
488and from Statistics for Analytical Chemistry, 3rd ed. (1994), pp 54-55
489J. C. Miller and J. N. Miller, Ellis Horwood ISBN 0 13 0309907.]
490The values result from the determination of mercury by cold-vapour
491atomic absorption.
492
493Only three measurements were made, and the Students-t test above
494gave a borderline result, so this example
495will show us how many samples would need to be collected:
496
497[pre'''
498_____________________________________________________________
499Estimated sample sizes required for various confidence levels
500_____________________________________________________________
501
502True Mean = 38.90000
503Sample Mean = 37.80000
504Sample Standard Deviation = 0.96437
505
506
507_______________________________________________________________
508Confidence Estimated Estimated
509 Value (%) Sample Size Sample Size
510 (one sided test) (two sided test)
511_______________________________________________________________
512 75.000 3 4
513 90.000 7 9
514 95.000 11 13
515 99.000 20 22
516 99.900 35 37
517 99.990 50 53
518 99.999 66 68
519''']
520
521So in this case, many more measurements would have had to be made,
522for example at the 95% level, 14 measurements in total for a two-sided test.
523
524[endsect]
525[section:two_sample_students_t Comparing the means of two samples with the Students-t test]
526
527Imagine that we have two samples, and we wish to determine whether
528their means are different or not. This situation often arises when
529determining whether a new process or treatment is better than an old one.
530
531In this example, we'll be using the
532[@http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook/eda/section3/eda3531.htm
533Car Mileage sample data] from the
534[@http://www.itl.nist.gov NIST website]. The data compares
535miles per gallon of US cars with miles per gallon of Japanese cars.
536
537The sample code is in
538[@../../example/students_t_two_samples.cpp students_t_two_samples.cpp].
539
540There are two ways in which this test can be conducted: we can assume
541that the true standard deviations of the two samples are equal or not.
542If the standard deviations are assumed to be equal, then the calculation
543of the t-statistic is greatly simplified, so we'll examine that case first.
544In real life we should verify whether this assumption is valid with a
545Chi-Squared test for equal variances.
546
547We begin by defining a procedure that will conduct our test assuming equal
548variances:
549
550 // Needed headers:
551 #include <boost/math/distributions/students_t.hpp>
552 #include <iostream>
553 #include <iomanip>
554 // Simplify usage:
555 using namespace boost::math;
556 using namespace std;
557
558 void two_samples_t_test_equal_sd(
559 double Sm1, // Sm1 = Sample 1 Mean.
560 double Sd1, // Sd1 = Sample 1 Standard Deviation.
561 unsigned Sn1, // Sn1 = Sample 1 Size.
562 double Sm2, // Sm2 = Sample 2 Mean.
563 double Sd2, // Sd2 = Sample 2 Standard Deviation.
564 unsigned Sn2, // Sn2 = Sample 2 Size.
565 double alpha) // alpha = Significance Level.
566 {
567
568
569Our procedure will begin by calculating the t-statistic, assuming
570equal variances the needed formulae are:
571
572[equation dist_tutorial1]
573
574where Sp is the "pooled" standard deviation of the two samples,
575and /v/ is the number of degrees of freedom of the two combined
576samples. We can now write the code to calculate the t-statistic:
577
578 // Degrees of freedom:
579 double v = Sn1 + Sn2 - 2;
580 cout << setw(55) << left << "Degrees of Freedom" << "= " << v << "\n";
581 // Pooled variance:
582 double sp = sqrt(((Sn1-1) * Sd1 * Sd1 + (Sn2-1) * Sd2 * Sd2) / v);
583 cout << setw(55) << left << "Pooled Standard Deviation" << "= " << sp << "\n";
584 // t-statistic:
585 double t_stat = (Sm1 - Sm2) / (sp * sqrt(1.0 / Sn1 + 1.0 / Sn2));
586 cout << setw(55) << left << "T Statistic" << "= " << t_stat << "\n";
587
588The next step is to define our distribution object, and calculate the
589complement of the probability:
590
591 students_t dist(v);
592 double q = cdf(complement(dist, fabs(t_stat)));
593 cout << setw(55) << left << "Probability that difference is due to chance" << "= "
594 << setprecision(3) << scientific << 2 * q << "\n\n";
595
596Here we've used the absolute value of the t-statistic, because we initially
597want to know simply whether there is a difference or not (a two-sided test).
598However, we can also test whether the mean of the second sample is greater
599or is less (one-sided test) than that of the first:
600all the possible tests are summed up in the following table:
601
602[table
603[[Hypothesis][Test]]
604[[The Null-hypothesis: there is
605*no difference* in means]
606[Reject if complement of CDF for |t| < significance level / 2:
607
608`cdf(complement(dist, fabs(t))) < alpha / 2`]]
609
610[[The Alternative-hypothesis: there is a
611*difference* in means]
612[Reject if complement of CDF for |t| > significance level / 2:
613
614`cdf(complement(dist, fabs(t))) < alpha / 2`]]
615
616[[The Alternative-hypothesis: Sample 1 Mean is *less* than
617Sample 2 Mean.]
618[Reject if CDF of t > significance level:
619
620`cdf(dist, t) > alpha`]]
621
622[[The Alternative-hypothesis: Sample 1 Mean is *greater* than
623Sample 2 Mean.]
624
625[Reject if complement of CDF of t > significance level:
626
627`cdf(complement(dist, t)) > alpha`]]
628]
629
630[note
631For a two-sided test we must compare against alpha / 2 and not alpha.]
632
633Most of the rest of the sample program is pretty-printing, so we'll
634skip over that, and take a look at the sample output for alpha=0.05
635(a 95% probability level). For comparison the dataplot output
636for the same data is in
637[@http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook/eda/section3/eda353.htm
638section 1.3.5.3] of the __handbook.
639
640[pre'''
641 ________________________________________________
642 Student t test for two samples (equal variances)
643 ________________________________________________
644
645 Number of Observations (Sample 1) = 249
646 Sample 1 Mean = 20.145
647 Sample 1 Standard Deviation = 6.4147
648 Number of Observations (Sample 2) = 79
649 Sample 2 Mean = 30.481
650 Sample 2 Standard Deviation = 6.1077
651 Degrees of Freedom = 326
652 Pooled Standard Deviation = 6.3426
653 T Statistic = -12.621
654 Probability that difference is due to chance = 5.273e-030
655
656 Results for Alternative Hypothesis and alpha = 0.0500'''
657
658 Alternative Hypothesis Conclusion
659 Sample 1 Mean != Sample 2 Mean NOT REJECTED
660 Sample 1 Mean < Sample 2 Mean NOT REJECTED
661 Sample 1 Mean > Sample 2 Mean REJECTED
662]
663
664So with a probability that the difference is due to chance of just
6655.273e-030, we can safely conclude that there is indeed a difference.
666
667The tests on the alternative hypothesis show that we must
668also reject the hypothesis that Sample 1 Mean is
669greater than that for Sample 2: in this case Sample 1 represents the
670miles per gallon for Japanese cars, and Sample 2 the miles per gallon for
671US cars, so we conclude that Japanese cars are on average more
672fuel efficient.
673
674Now that we have the simple case out of the way, let's look for a moment
675at the more complex one: that the standard deviations of the two samples
676are not equal. In this case the formula for the t-statistic becomes:
677
678[equation dist_tutorial2]
679
680And for the combined degrees of freedom we use the
681[@http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welch-Satterthwaite_equation Welch-Satterthwaite]
682approximation:
683
684[equation dist_tutorial3]
685
686Note that this is one of the rare situations where the degrees-of-freedom
687parameter to the Student's t distribution is a real number, and not an
688integer value.
689
690[note
691Some statistical packages truncate the effective degrees of freedom to
692an integer value: this may be necessary if you are relying on lookup tables,
693but since our code fully supports non-integer degrees of freedom there is no
694need to truncate in this case. Also note that when the degrees of freedom
695is small then the Welch-Satterthwaite approximation may be a significant
696source of error.]
697
698Putting these formulae into code we get:
699
700 // Degrees of freedom:
701 double v = Sd1 * Sd1 / Sn1 + Sd2 * Sd2 / Sn2;
702 v *= v;
703 double t1 = Sd1 * Sd1 / Sn1;
704 t1 *= t1;
705 t1 /= (Sn1 - 1);
706 double t2 = Sd2 * Sd2 / Sn2;
707 t2 *= t2;
708 t2 /= (Sn2 - 1);
709 v /= (t1 + t2);
710 cout << setw(55) << left << "Degrees of Freedom" << "= " << v << "\n";
711 // t-statistic:
712 double t_stat = (Sm1 - Sm2) / sqrt(Sd1 * Sd1 / Sn1 + Sd2 * Sd2 / Sn2);
713 cout << setw(55) << left << "T Statistic" << "= " << t_stat << "\n";
714
715Thereafter the code and the tests are performed the same as before. Using
716are car mileage data again, here's what the output looks like:
717
718[pre'''
719 __________________________________________________
720 Student t test for two samples (unequal variances)
721 __________________________________________________
722
723 Number of Observations (Sample 1) = 249
724 Sample 1 Mean = 20.145
725 Sample 1 Standard Deviation = 6.4147
726 Number of Observations (Sample 2) = 79
727 Sample 2 Mean = 30.481
728 Sample 2 Standard Deviation = 6.1077
729 Degrees of Freedom = 136.87
730 T Statistic = -12.946
731 Probability that difference is due to chance = 1.571e-025
732
733 Results for Alternative Hypothesis and alpha = 0.0500'''
734
735 Alternative Hypothesis Conclusion
736 Sample 1 Mean != Sample 2 Mean NOT REJECTED
737 Sample 1 Mean < Sample 2 Mean NOT REJECTED
738 Sample 1 Mean > Sample 2 Mean REJECTED
739]
740
741This time allowing the variances in the two samples to differ has yielded
742a higher likelihood that the observed difference is down to chance alone
743(1.571e-025 compared to 5.273e-030 when equal variances were assumed).
744However, the conclusion remains the same: US cars are less fuel efficient
745than Japanese models.
746
747[endsect]
748[section:paired_st Comparing two paired samples with the Student's t distribution]
749
750Imagine that we have a before and after reading for each item in the sample:
751for example we might have measured blood pressure before and after administration
752of a new drug. We can't pool the results and compare the means before and after
753the change, because each patient will have a different baseline reading.
754Instead we calculate the difference between before and after measurements
755in each patient, and calculate the mean and standard deviation of the differences.
756To test whether a significant change has taken place, we can then test
757the null-hypothesis that the true mean is zero using the same procedure
758we used in the single sample cases previously discussed.
759
760That means we can:
761
762* [link math_toolkit.stat_tut.weg.st_eg.tut_mean_intervals Calculate confidence intervals of the mean].
763If the endpoints of the interval differ in sign then we are unable to reject
764the null-hypothesis that there is no change.
765* [link math_toolkit.stat_tut.weg.st_eg.tut_mean_test Test whether the true mean is zero]. If the
766result is consistent with a true mean of zero, then we are unable to reject the
767null-hypothesis that there is no change.
768* [link math_toolkit.stat_tut.weg.st_eg.tut_mean_size Calculate how many pairs of readings we would need
769in order to obtain a significant result].
770
771[endsect]
772
773[endsect][/section:st_eg Student's t]
774
775[/
776 Copyright 2006, 2012 John Maddock and Paul A. Bristow.
777 Distributed under the Boost Software License, Version 1.0.
778 (See accompanying file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at
779 http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt).
780]
781