One sample t-test

Richard Kofi Asravor (PhD)

[email protected]
 Objectives

⚫ Understand the one sample t test

⚫ Common Uses

⚫ Data requirement
⚫ Sample data to be used in class is Sample_Dataset_2014.sav

⚫ SPSS procedures

⚫ Interpretation of the results

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 Definition
The one sample t-test:
⚫ allows us to test whether a sample means (of a normally
distributed interval variable) significantly differs from a
hypothesized value.

⚫ examines whether the mean of a population is statistically

different from a known or hypothesized value.

⚫ Is a parametric test and is also known as: Single

Sample t Test

⚫ The variable used in this test is known as: Test variable

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 Definition
In the one sample t-test:
⚫ the test variable's mean is compared against a "test value",
which is a known or hypothesized value of the mean in the
population.

⚫ Test values may come from a literature review, a trusted

research organization, legal requirements, or industry
standards.

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 Common Uses
The one sample t-test is commonly used to:
⚫ Statistical difference between a mean and a known or
hypothesized value of the mean in the population.

⚫ Statistical difference between a change score and zero.

⚫ Only compare a single sample mean to a specified

constant. It can not compare sample means between two or
more groups.

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 Data Requirement
Data used must meet the following:
⚫ Test variable that is continuous (i.e., interval or ratio level)

⚫ Scores on the test variable are independent (i.e., independence

of observations)
 There is no relationship between scores on the test variable
 Violation of this assumption will yield an inaccurate p value

⚫ Random sample of data from the population

⚫ Homogeneity of variances (i.e., variances approximately equal

in both the sample and population)
⚫ No outliers
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 Data Requirement
Data used must meet the following:
⚫ Normal distribution (approximately) of the sample and
population on the test variable
 Non-normal population distributions, especially those that are
thick-tailed or heavily skewed, considerably reduce the power of
the test
 Among moderate or large samples, a violation of normality may
still yield accurate p values

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Hypothesis Testing
The hypotheses to be tested must be:
⚫ The null hypothesis (H0) and (two-tailed) alternative
hypothesis (H1) of the one sample T test can be expressed
as:
 H0: µ = µ0 ("the population mean is equal to the [proposed]
population mean")

 H1: µ ≠ µ0 ("the population mean is not equal to the [proposed]

population mean")
⚫ where µ is the "true" population mean and µ0 is the
proposed value of the population mean.

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Test Statistic
See your quantitative method notes for details:

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Run a One Sample t Test
To run a One Sample t Test in SPSS:
⚫ Click Analyze > Compare Means > One-Sample T Test.

⚫ The window opens where you will specify the variables to be

used in the analysis.

⚫ All of the variables in your dataset appear in the list on the

left side.

⚫ Move variables to the Test Variable(s) area by selecting

them in the list and clicking the arrow button.

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About the DataSet

⚫ According to the CDC the mean height of U.S. adults ages

20 and older is about 66.5 inches (69.3 inches for males, 63.8
inches for females).
⚫ In our sample data, we have a sample of 435 college students
from a single college. Let's test if the mean height of
students at this college is significantly different than 66.5
inches using a one-sample t test. The null and alternative
hypotheses of this test will be:
⚫ H0: µHeight = 66.5 ("the mean height is equal to 66.5")
⚫ H1: µHeight ≠ 66.5 ("the mean height is not equal to 66.5")

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 BEFORE THE TEST
⚫ Use the continuous variable Height.
⚫ Analyze > Descriptive Statistics > Descriptives: The
heights exhibit a range of values from 55.00 to 88.41
⚫ Create a histogram of the data to get an idea of the
distribution.
⚫ Click Graphs > Legacy Dialogs > Histogram. Move
variable Height to the Variable box, then click OK
⚫ Add vertical reference lines at the mean: Double-click on
the plot to open the Chart Editor, then
⚫ click Options > X Axis Reference Line.
⚫ In the Properties window, you can enter a specific location
on the x-axis for the vertical line, or you can choose to have
the reference line at the mean or median of the sample data.
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BEFORE THE TEST
⚫ Click Apply to make sure your new line is added to the
chart.

⚫ Added two reference lines: one at the sample mean (the solid
black line), and the other at 66.5 (the dashed red line).
⚫ From the histogram, we can see that height is relatively
symmetrically distributed about the mean, though there is a
slightly longer right tail.

⚫ The reference lines indicate that sample mean is slightly

greater than the hypothesized mean, but not by a huge
amount. It's possible that our test result could come back
significant.
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Run a One Sample t Test
To run a One Sample t Test in SPSS:
⚫ Click Analyze > Compare Means > One-Sample T Test.

⚫ The window opens where you will specify the variables to be

used in the analysis.

⚫ All of the variables in your dataset appear in the list on the

left side.

⚫ Move variables to the Test Variable(s) area by selecting

them in the list and clicking the arrow button.

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 Run a One Sample t Test
⚫ (A) Test Variable(s): The variable whose mean will be
compared to the hypothesized population mean (i.e., Test
Value).
⚫ (B) Test Value: The hypothesized population mean against
which your test variable(s) will be compared.
⚫ (C) Estimate effect sizes: Optional. If checked, will print
effect size statistics -- namely, Cohen's d -- for the test(s).

⚫ (D) Options: Clicking Options will open a window where you

can specify the Confidence Interval Percentage and how the
analysis will address Missing Values (i.e., Exclude cases
analysis by analysis or Exclude cases listwise).

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⚫ Click Continue when you are finished making specifications.
Run a One Sample t Test

⚫ Click OK to run the One Sample t Test.

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OUTPUT

⚫ Click OK to run the One Sample t Test.

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OUTPUT
⚫ One-Sample Statistics
 Provides basic information about the selected
variable, Height, including the valid (nonmissing)
sample size (n), mean, standard deviation, and standard
error.

⚫ In this example, the mean height of the sample is 68.03

inches, which is based on 408 nonmissing observations.

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OUTPUT
⚫ One-Sample Test:
⚫ (A) Test Value: The number we entered as the test value in
the One-Sample T Test window.

⚫ (B) t Statistic: The test statistic of the one-sample t test,

denoted t. In this example, t = 5.810. Note that t is
calculated by dividing the mean difference (E) by the
standard error mean (from the One-Sample Statistics box).

⚫ (C) df: The degrees of freedom for the test. For a one-
sample t test, df = n - 1; so here, df = 408 - 1 = 407.
⚫ (F) Confidence Interval for the Difference: The
confidence interval for the difference between the specified
test value and the sample mean. 19
OUTPUT
⚫ One-Sample Test:
⚫ (D) Significance (One-Sided p and Two-Sided p): The p-
values corresponding to one of the possible one-sided
alternative hypotheses (in this case, µHeight > 66.5) and two-
sided alternative hypothesis (µHeight ≠ 66.5), respectively.
Interested in the two-sided alternative hypothesis.

⚫ (E) Mean Difference: The difference between the

"observed" sample mean (from the One Sample Statistics
box) and the "expected" mean (the specified test value (A)).
The sign of the mean difference corresponds to the sign of
the t value (B). The positive t value in this example indicates
that the mean height of the sample is greater than the
hypothesized value (66.5). 20
DECISION AND CONCLUSIONS
⚫ Recall that our hypothesized population value was 66.5
inches, the [approximate] average height of the overall adult
population in the U.S. Since p < 0.001.

⚫ We reject the null hypothesis that the mean height of

students at this college is equal to the hypothesized
population mean of 66.5 inches and conclude that the mean
height is significantly different than 66.5 inches.

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DECISION AND CONCLUSIONS
⚫ Based on the results, it can be concluded that:
 There is a significant difference in the mean height of the
students at this college and the overall adult population in
the U.S. (p < .001).

 The average height of students at this college is about 1.5

inches taller than the U.S. adult population average (95% CI
[1.013, 2.050]).

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⚫The End

⚫Thanks

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