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13: Assumptions of Parametric Tests

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    45219
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    Introduction

    Chapters 8, 10 and 12 were concerned primarily with tests of means among groups of treatments. ANOVA, t-tests, linear models, all involve estimation of parameters, qualities of populations. Although we have included assumptions about these statistics along the way, this chapter provides a summary about assumptions needed to be met in order to correctly interpret results of these statistical tests. Assumptions of parametric tests include how the data are presumed to be distributed (e.g., normality) and about the variability within groups (e.g., we assume equal variances). One important caveat: you can always estimate regardless of whether or not the assumptions are met. And, certainly, R and other statistical software will allow you to perform these calculations without warning. However, to the extent one or more assumptions do not hold, your conclusions, e.g., p-value and Type I error, will be influenced. That’s what we mean by statistical thinking — knowing when your conclusions are valid.

    This is the classic approach — provide tests of assumptions to justify use of ANOVA, etc. The modern approach, perhaps even the best practice approach, is instead to use more powerful statistical modeling approach, e.g., generalized linear model (GLS) to model for correlations among residuals (lack of independence assumption) or heteroscedastic variances (equal residual variances).

    • 13.1: ANOVA assumptions
      Discussion of the assumptions made about populations and samples in order to justify and trust estimates and inferences drawn from ANOVA, and the impact of these assumptions. Some simple methods of adjusting for violations of these assumptions.
    • 13.2: Why tests of assumption are important
      Errors that can arise if data violate the assumptions upon which statistical tests like the ttt-tests or ANOVA are based. Introduction to some alternative methods that can be used in cases with such violations.
    • 13.3: Test assumption of normality
      Some methods of testing the normality expression, including the goodness-of-fit, Shapiro-Wilks, and Anderson-Darling tests.
    • 13.4: Tests for equal variances
      The \(F\)-test as a method of testing whether sample data has equal variances. Introduction to Levene's test of equal variances and Cahoy's bootstrap test of variance heterogeneity.
    • 13.5: Chapter 13 References and Suggested Readings


    This page titled 13: Assumptions of Parametric Tests is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Michael R Dohm via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.

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