In: Statistics and Probability
What are some possible reasons for two-sample t-test to have no statistical difference between the two groups. The hypothesis of the test is determine to find if the two-sample test is larger than a certain amount. Please provide some reasons.
The assumptions of the two-sample t-test are :
1. The data are continuous (not discrete).
2. The data follow the normal probability distribution.
3. The variances of the two populations are equal.
4. The two samples are independent. There is no relationship between the individuals in one sample as compared to the other (as there is in the paired t-test).
5. Both samples are simple random samples from their respective populations. Each individual in the population has an equal probability of being selected in the sample.
Hence, Two-sample t-test is used when the data of two samples are statistically independent. To use the two-sample t-test, we need to assume that the data from both samples are normally distributed and they have the same variances.
An important parameter in the t-distribution is the degrees of freedom. For two independent samples with equal sample size n, df = 2(n-1) for the two-sample t-test.