Analysis Of Variance (ANOVA)

The Analysis Of Variance, popularly known as the ANOVA, can be used in cases where
there are more than two groups.
When we have only two samples we can use the t-test to compare the means of the
samples but it might become unreliable in case of more than two samples. If we only compare
two means, then the t-test (independent samples) will give the same results as the ANOVA.
It is used to compare the means of more than two samples. This can be understood better
with the help of an example.
One Way ANOVA
EXAMPLE: Suppose we want to test the effect of five different exercises. For this, we recruit
20 men and assign one type of exercise to 4 men (5 groups). Their weights are recorded after a
few weeks.
We may find out whether the effect of these exercises on them is significantly different or
not and this may be done by comparing the weights of the 5 groups of 4 men each.
The example above is a case of one-way balanced ANOVA.
It has been termed as one-way as there is only one category whose effect has been studied
and balanced as the same number of men has been assigned on each exercise. Thus the basic idea
is to test whether the samples are all alike or not.

Why Not Multiple T-Tests?

As mentioned above, the t-test can only be used to test differences between two means.
When there are more than two means, it is possible to compare each mean with each other mean
using many t-tests.
But conducting such multiple t-tests can lead to severe complications and in such
circumstances we use ANOVA. Thus, this technique is used whenever an alternative procedure
is needed for testing hypotheses concerning means when there are several populations.

One Way and Two Way Anova

Now some questions may arise as to what are the means we are talking about and why
variances are analyzed in order to derive conclusions about means. The whole procedure can be
made clear with the help of an experiment.

EXPERIENCE:
Let us study the effect of fertilizers on yield of wheat. We apply five fertilizers, each of
different quality, on five plots of land each of wheat. The yield from each plot of land is recorded
and the difference in yield among the plots is observed. Here, fertilizer is a factor and the
different qualities of fertilizers are called levels.
This is a case of one-way or one-factor ANOVA since there is only one factor, fertilizer.
We may also be interested to study the effect of fertility of the plots of land. In such a case we
would have two factors, fertilizer and fertility. This would be a case of two-way or two-factor
ANOVA. Similarly, a third factor may be incorporated to have a case of three-way or threefactor ANOVA.

Chance Cause and Assignable Cause

In the above experiment the yields obtained from the plots may be different and we may
be tempted to conclude that the differences exist due to the differences in quality of the
fertilizers.
But this difference may also be the result of certain other factors which are attributed to
chance and which are beyond human control. This factor is termed as error. Thus, the
differences or variations that exist within a plot of land may be attributed to error.
Thus, estimates of the amount of variation due to assignable causes (or variance between
the samples) as well as due to chance causes (or variance within the samples) are obtained
separately and compared using an F-test and conclusions are drawn using the value of F.

Assumptions
There are four basic assumptions used in ANOVA.

the expected values of the errors are zero

the variances of all errors are equal to each other

the errors are independent

they are normally distributed

Repeated Measures ANOVA

Repeated Measures ANOVA is a technique used to test the equality of means.
It is used when all the members of a random sample are tested under a number of conditions.
Here, we have different measurements for each of the sample as each sample is exposed to
different conditions.
However, it is used when all the members of a random sample are tested under a number
of conditions. Here, we have different measurements for each of the sample as each sample is
exposed to different conditions.
In other words, the measurement of the dependent variable is repeated. It is not possible
to use the standard ANOVA in such a case as such data violates the assumption of independence
of data and as such it will not be able to model the correlation between the repeated measures.

Not Multivariate Design

However, it must be noted that a repeated measures design is very much different from a
multivariate design.
For both, samples are measured on several occasions, or trials, but in the repeated
measures design, each trial represents the measurement of the same characteristic under a
different condition.
For example, repeated measures ANOVA can be used to compare the number of oranges
produced by an orange grove in years one, two and three. The measurement is the number of
oranges and the condition that changes is the year.
But in a multivariate design, each trial represents the measurement of a different
characteristic.
Thus, to compare the number, weight and price of oranges repeated measures ANOVA
cannot be used. The three measurements are number, weight, and price, and these do not
represent different conditions, but different qualities.

Why Use Repeated Measures Design?

Repeated measures design is used for several reasons:

By collecting data from the same participants under repeated conditions the individual differences
can be eliminated or reduced as a source of between group differences.

Also, the sample size is not divided between conditions or groups and thus inferential testing
becomes more powerful.

This design also proves to be economical when sample members are difficult to recruit because
each member is measured under all conditions.

Assumption
This design is based on the assumption of Sphericity, which means that the variance of
the population difference scores for any two conditions should be the same as the variance of the
population difference scores for any other two conditions.
But this condition is only relevant to the one-way repeated measures ANOVA and in other cases
this assumption is commonly violated.

Possible Designs for Repeated Measures

One-way repeated measures

Two-way repeated measures

Two-way mixed split-plot design (SPANOVA)