Tests of significance

Parametric tests Eg. T test, Z test, Chi-square test,

Pearson correlation coifficient

Non parametric tests Eg. Chi-square test, Kruskal-Wallis test, Spearman correlation coifficient

Tests of significance- Steps involved

Define the problem state the hypothesis Null hypothesis

Alternate hypothesis
Fix the level of significance Select appropriate test to find test statistic Find degree of freedom (df) Compare the observed test statistic with theoretical one at desired level of significance & corresponding DF If the observed test statistic value is greater than the theoretical value, reject the null hypothesis. Draw the inference based on the level of significance

Tab.1. Appropriate tests of significance to be used in bivariate analysis

First variable Second variable Example Tests of significance

Quantitative

Quantitative

Water F levels and mean DMFT

Pearson correlation coefficient (r) ; linear regression

Spearman correlation coifficient (rho); possibly use ANOVA or F test Students t- test Or Z- test

Quantitative

Ordinal

Water F levels and esthetic concerns

Quantitative

Dichotomous unpaired

Tooth displacement in mm in males and females

Difference in systolic blood pressure before and after injecting LA

Quantitative

Dichotomous paired

Paired t- test Or Z- test ANOVA (F- test)

Quantitative

nominal

Mean DMFT in four areas

Tab.3. Appropriate tests of significance to be used in bivariate analysis

First variable Second variable Example Tests of significance

Dichotomous

Dichotomous unpaired

Success/ Failure in treated/untreated groups

Chi- square test; Fisher exact probability test

Dichotomous

Dichotomous paired

Change in success/ failure before and after treatment

Mc Nemar chi- square test

Dichotomous

nominal

Retention of different pit and fissure sealants two years after application

Chi- square test

nominal

nominal

Sterilising equipment used by doctors of different specialities

Chi- square test

Tab.4. Appropriate tests of significance to be used in multivariate analysis

dependent variable independent variables Example Tests of significance

Quantitative

All are categorical

Prevalence of dental caries - frequency of sugar intake, water fluoride level, socio economic status

ANOVA

Quantitative

All are quantitative

Blood pressure- body mass index, age, amount of fat intake, salt intake

Multiple linear regression

Objective of using tests of significance

To compare sample mean with population Means of two samples Sample proportion with population Proportion of two samples Association b/w two attributes

t - test
Students t-test Designed by W.S Gossett Unpaired t- test (two independent samples) Paired t- test ( single sample correlated observation) Essential conditions: randomly selected samples from the corresponding populations Homogeneity of variances in the 2 samples Quantitative data Variable normally distributed samples < 30

Unpaired t- test
Unpaired data of independent observation made on the individual of two different or separate groups or samples drawn from 2 populations Null hypothesis is stated difference between means of two samples (X1-X2) measures variation in variable calculate the t value t= (X1-X2) SE

SE =

1 + 1 n1 n2

If t- not known

Determine degrees of freedom df= (n1-1 )+(n2- 1) = n1+ n2-2 Compare calculated value with table value at particular degrees of freedom to find the level of significance

t value at 5% level 2.069 2.74 obtained value in exp Significant

Paired t- test
To study the role of factor or cause when the observations are made before & after the its play: Eg: exertion on pulse rate, effect of a drug on blood pressure etc To compare the effect of 2drugs , given to the same individual in the sample on two different occasions eg: adrenaline & noradrenaline on pulse rate
to study the comparative accuracy of 2 difft instruments eg: 2 difft types of sphygmomanometers

to compare the results of 2 difft lab techniques

To compare the observations made at two different sites in the same body

Testing procedure: Null hypothesis X1-X2= x Calculate mean of the difference x = x /n calculate SD of differences & SE of mean SE= SD/ n Determine t value t= x -o = x SD / n SD/ n Find the degrees of freedom , n-1 refer the table & find the probability P >0.05 not significant P< 0.05 significant

T value 5 % = 2.31 Observed t value 5.17 HS

Analysis of variance
ANOVA test Compare more than two samples Compares variation between the classes as well as within the classes For such comparisons there is high chance of error using t test.

A :b/w groups variation = random variation (always) + imposed variation (maybe)

B :Within group variation = random variation Total variation = A+B

If there is no real difference b/w groups, then

between treatment = random variation = 1 Within treatment random variation

If there is any real difference b/n the R/ between treatment = random variation+ imposed variation >1 Within treatment random variation

Chi square test ( test )

Non parametric test Developed by Karl Pearson Not based on normal distribution of any variable Used for qualitative data

To test whether the difference in distribution of attributes in different groups is due to sampling variation or otherwise.

Applications
1. Test for goodness of fit

2. Test of association (independence)

3. Test of homogeneity or population variance 2 test is non parametric in the first two cases and parametric in the third case

Calculation of value
Three requirements A random sample Qualitative data Lowest expected frequency > 5

= (observed f expected f )
Expected f

Expected f = row total x column total / grand total

df =( r-1)x (c-1) Calculated value is correlated with table

To test whether there is any association between dental hygiene no of cavities

df = 2 p value at 5 % is 5.99 Calculated value 7 Null hypothesis is rejected

Drawbacks :
Tells us about the association but fails to measure the strength of association.

Test is unreliable if the expected frequency in any one cell

is less than 5. Correction is done by subtracting 0.5 from [ O-E ] Yatess correction For Tables larger that 2 x 2 , Yates correction cannot be applied Not applicable when there is 0 or 1 in any of the cells [ Resort to Fishers exact probability test ] values interpreted with caution when sample < 50

Non parametric tests

a family of statistical tests also called as distribution free tests that do not require any assumption about the distribution the data set follows and that do not require the testing of distribution parameters such as means or variances

Friedmans test nonparametric equivalent of analysis of variance Kruskal Wallis test to compare medians of several independent samples equivalent of one way analysis of variance Mann Whitney U test compare medians of two independent samples. Equivalent of t test McNemars test variant of chi squared test , used when data is paired Wilcoxons Sign rank test paired data Spearmans rank correlation correlation coefficient

Conclusion
Its more important to understand the indications and limitations of various statistical tests rather than the robust mathematical calculations since the latter is taken care of by the software like SPSS Understanding the classification of data is crucial for the selection of appropriate test of significance

References
B.K. Mahajan. Methods in Biostatistics, 6th edition. P.S.S.Sundar Rao, J.Richard. An introduction to Biostatistics,3rd edition. James F Jekel, David L Katz, Joann G Elmore. Epidemiology, biostatistics and preventive medicine, 2nd edition. Research methodology- C.R.Kothari,