Question

1. For the following scenarios, indicate which type of t-test (either paired samples or independent samples) would be most appropriate. (8 points; 2 points each)

1. Determining whether children remember more details from a surprising event than college students.

2. Determining whether left-handed people show higher vocabulary scores than right-handed people.

3. Determining whether rats show differences in their spatial navigation abilities before and after consuming a high fat meal.

4. Determining whether a group of people has faster running speeds after drinking 1 cup of green tea than after drinking 4 cups of green tea.

Answer 1

a. Determining whether children remember more details from a surprising event than college students.

There are two different samples as children and college students

Since these are independent samples, we need to use independent samples t-test.

b. Determining whether left-handed people show higher vocabulary scores than right-handed people.

These are also different groups and so we use independent samples t-test.

c. Determining whether rats show differences in their spatial navigation abilities before and after consuming a high fat meal.

Here data are collected on same subjects ( same rats) before the consuming and after consuming a high fat meal.

So this is a pair data (dependent data set) , so we use dependent sample t test.

d. Determining whether a group of people has faster running speeds after drinking 1 cup of green tea than after drinking 4 cups of green tea.

Here data are collected on same groups of people before and after the different type of treatments on them

So this is a pair data (dependent data set) , so we use dependent sample t test.