Which test do you use to solve this problem One-sample or independent samples t-test?
Over the summer I asked my statistics students to report their gender and their level of statistics anxiety. Using a one-tailed test, determine whether females have more statistics anxiety compared to males. Higher numbers indicate higher levels of anxiety.
indep. samples..
I would have Males vs Females
so I would have to use the independent samples t test t=m1-m2/s(m1-m2) and the standard error
so what would be my df
Use n1 + n2 - 2 for degrees of freedom.
Note: n = sample size
To determine whether females have more statistics anxiety compared to males, you can use an independent samples t-test. The independent samples t-test is appropriate when you want to compare the means of two different groups, in this case, females and males. It helps you determine if there is a significant difference between the means of the two groups.
To perform the independent samples t-test, you will need to follow these steps:
1. Collect the data: Gather data from your statistics students on their gender and level of statistics anxiety. Ensure you have enough data points for both females and males.
2. Define your hypotheses: Based on the information provided, your null hypothesis (H0) will be: "There is no significant difference in statistics anxiety between females and males." Your alternative hypothesis (Ha) will be: "Females have higher statistics anxiety compared to males."
3. Choose a significance level: Determine the level of significance you want for your test, usually denoted by α (alpha). Common values for α are 0.05 or 0.01, representing a 5% or 1% significance level, respectively. This determines the threshold for declaring a result statistically significant.
4. Perform the t-test: Use statistical software, such as R, Python, or SPSS, to perform the independent samples t-test. The software will calculate the t-statistic and the corresponding p-value.
5. Interpret the results: If the p-value is less than the chosen significance level (α), you can reject the null hypothesis and conclude that there is a significant difference in statistics anxiety between females and males. If the p-value is greater than α, you fail to reject the null hypothesis, indicating that there is no significant difference between the two groups.
It is worth noting that using a one-tailed test means you are explicitly testing if females have higher statistics anxiety than males, rather than simply testing for a difference.