2 Independent samples : Mann-Whitney test.

Mann-Whitney test is a statistical procedures that is known as non-parametric test. Nonparametric test are sometimes known as assumption-free test because the assumption of the type of data which can be used is fewer than parametric test. Most of these tests work on the principle of ranking the data that is by finding the lowest score and giving it a rank of 1, then finding the next highest score and giving it a rank of 2, and so on. Then, the analysis is then carried out on the ranks rather than the actual data. Some people believe that non-parametric tests have less power than their parametric counterparts. So now, we will discover how to carry out the analysis by using traditional method and also by using SPSS in our respective blog.

Mann-Whitney test is use to test the differences between two conditions and different participants has been used in each condition. These test are equivalent of the independent t-test. The assumptions of these test are as below :

The data consist of a random sample of observation X1,X2,....,Xn1 from population 1with unknown median Mx, and another random sample observations Y1,Y2,....,Yn2 from population 2 with unknown median MY.

The two samples are independent. The variable observed is a continuous random variable. The measurement scale employed is at least ordinal. The distribution functions of the two populations differ only with respect to location, if they differ at all.

So, let see the example for Mann-Whitney test.

Question:

A teacher wondered if students tended to make better scores on her test depending on teaching approach that has been used in the class. From a group of 30 similarly talented students, she randomly divided the subjects into two groups which is teacher centered and student centered. The scores by groups are shown on the table below. Test for a difference between population medians at the = 0.05.

Teacher centered Subjects 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Score (X) 89 76 92 90 83 82 74 81 88 75 80 88 83 79 81

Student centered Subjects 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Score (Y) 77 82 81 79 77 73 81 76 80 75 72 69 76 86 89

Solution: Step 1: State the hypotheses and identify the claim.

Step 2 : Find test statistics. First, combine all the observations for sample X and sample Y. Then, ranks the sample from smallest to largest. Next, find the sum of ranks for sample X.

The table below show the scores according to corresponding ranks. X score 74 75 76 79 80 81 81 82 83 83 88 88 89 90 92 Rank 4 5.5 8 12.5 14.5 17.5 17.5 20.5 22.5 22.5 25.5 25.5 27.5 29 30 Y score 69 72 73 75 76 76 77 77 79 80 81 81 82 86 89 Rank 1 2 3 5.5 8 8 10.5 10.5 12.5 14.5 17.5 17.5 20.5 24 27.5

282.5

182.5

Substitute into these formula to find the test statistic :

T S

n1 (n1 1) 2

Where S = sum of ranks in sample X = 282.5 n1 = sample size of X So, the test statistic : = 15

T 282.5

15(15 1) 162.5 2

Step 3: Make a decision.

Since this is two-sided case, we need to find . So, from table A.7, 65

Since test statistic, 162.5 is greater than 160, we reject the null hypotheses. In SPSS, we can know the result by looking at the significant value. The results are significant (p < .005). So, we reject the null hypotheses too.

Step 4 : Summarize the results.

There is enough evidence to support the claim that two population location parametric are different.

Finding the P Value.

When the null htpotheses is true, the sampling distribution of the Mann-Whitney test statistic is symmetric. Since this is the case, we can find the two-sided P value by doubling the P value we would have if the test is one-sided. For this example, we consult table A.7, n1 = 15,n2 = 15 . We find that the computed of our test statistic ,162.5 is between

(15)(15)-52=173 and (15)(15)-57=168

Consequently, for this test 2(0.005) > P > 2(0.001) or 0.010 > P > 0.002.