In: Statistics and Probability
In which of the following situations would it be appropriate to use a paired t-test to analyze the data? Check all that apply.
A researcher was interested in the differences in attitudes towards saving money and eliminating debt between couples who are engaged to be married. As part of a premarital counseling program, 45 engaged couples filled out a survey that assessed their attitudes towards financial matters such as their priorities for saving money and eliminating debt. The researcher compared the scores of each member of the engaged couple to see if there was a mean difference in the couples’ attitudes towards saving money and eliminating debt.
A biologist was interested in finding out whether rats who are littermates (siblings who are born at the same time) have similar abilities when learning how to run a maze. The biologists selected 50 pairs of littermates and tested how many trials it took for the rat to get to the end of the maze in less than 10 seconds. The null hypothesis was that there would be no mean difference in the number of trials that the rat and their litter mate would take to complete the maze in under 10 seconds. Each rat’s maze time was compared to his/her littermate.
A medical researcher believes that a new drug will increase a patient’s red blood cell count at a higher rate than that achieved by an old drug currently in use. The researcher randomly assigns 50 patients to be in the “new drug” group and 50 patients to be in the “old drug” group, then compares the mean red blood cell count for the “new drug” group to the red blood cell count of the “old drug” group.
A researcher is interested in determining the effects of caffeine on manual dexterity. The researcher recruits a sample of 60 participants and asks each participant to complete a manual dexterity task similar to the game “Operation.” Each participant completes the task twice: On Day 1, participants complete the task when they have not consumed any caffeine for at least 6 hours. On Day 2, the participants drink a beverage with 200 mg of caffeine 20 minutes before completing the task. The researcher compares each individual’s number of errors in the task with and without caffeine exposure and computes a mean difference.
Out of the 4 scenarios, there are 3 scenarios in which it would be appropriate to use a paired t-test to analyze the data
These scenarios are as follows:
"A researcher was interested in the differences in attitudes .... there was a mean difference in the couples’ attitudes towards saving money and eliminating debt."
Reason: Researcher aims to compare attitudes towards saving money and eliminating debt between couples. So here research has paired participants.
"A biologist was interested ...... time was compared to his/her littermate."
Reason: The aim of researcher is to compare abilities of 2 siblings who are born at the same time (littermates). So here researcher has paired participants based on certain criterion.
"A researcher is interested in determining the effects of caffeine on manual dexterity ...... the task with and without caffeine exposure and computes a mean difference."
Reason: Researcher uses same participants to test effect of caffeine on manual dexterity