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			Plaintext
		
	
	
	
	
	
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[section:st_eg Student's t Distribution Examples]
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[section:tut_mean_intervals Calculating confidence intervals on the mean with the Students-t distribution]
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Let's say you have a sample mean, you may wish to know what confidence intervals
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you can place on that mean.  Colloquially: "I want an interval that I can be
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P% sure contains the true mean".  (On a technical point, note that
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the interval either contains the true mean or it does not: the
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meaning of the confidence level is subtly
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different from this colloquialism.  More background information can be found on the
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[@http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook/eda/section3/eda352.htm NIST site]).
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The formula for the interval can be expressed as:
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[equation dist_tutorial4]
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Where, ['Y[sub s]] is the sample mean, /s/ is the sample standard deviation,
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/N/ is the sample size, /[alpha]/ is the desired significance level and
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['t[sub ([alpha]/2,N-1)]] is the upper critical value of the Students-t
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distribution with /N-1/ degrees of freedom.
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[note
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The quantity [alpha][space] is the maximum acceptable risk of falsely rejecting
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the null-hypothesis.  The smaller the value of [alpha] the greater the
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strength of the test.
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The confidence level of the test is defined as 1 - [alpha], and often expressed
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as a percentage.  So for example a significance level of 0.05, is equivalent
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to a 95% confidence level.  Refer to
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[@http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook/prc/section1/prc14.htm
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"What are confidence intervals?"] in __handbook for more information.
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] [/ Note]
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[note
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The usual assumptions of
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[@http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_and_identically-distributed_random_variables independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.)]
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variables and [@http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_distribution normal distribution]
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of course apply here, as they do in other examples.
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]
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From the formula, it should be clear that:
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* The width of the confidence interval decreases as the sample size increases.
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* The width increases as the standard deviation increases.
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* The width increases as the ['confidence level increases] (0.5 towards 0.99999 - stronger).
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* The width increases as the ['significance level decreases] (0.5 towards 0.00000...01 - stronger).
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The following example code is taken from the example program
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[@../../example/students_t_single_sample.cpp students_t_single_sample.cpp].
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We'll begin by defining a procedure to calculate intervals for
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various confidence levels; the procedure will print these out
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as a table:
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   // Needed includes:
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   #include <boost/math/distributions/students_t.hpp>
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   #include <iostream>
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   #include <iomanip>
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   // Bring everything into global namespace for ease of use:
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   using namespace boost::math;
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   using namespace std;
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   void confidence_limits_on_mean(
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      double Sm,           // Sm = Sample Mean.
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      double Sd,           // Sd = Sample Standard Deviation.
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      unsigned Sn)         // Sn = Sample Size.
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   {
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      using namespace std;
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      using namespace boost::math;
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      // Print out general info:
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      cout <<
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         "__________________________________\n"
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         "2-Sided Confidence Limits For Mean\n"
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         "__________________________________\n\n";
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      cout << setprecision(7);
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      cout << setw(40) << left << "Number of Observations" << "=  " << Sn << "\n";
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      cout << setw(40) << left << "Mean" << "=  " << Sm << "\n";
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      cout << setw(40) << left << "Standard Deviation" << "=  " << Sd << "\n";
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We'll define a table of significance/risk levels for which we'll compute intervals:
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      double alpha[] = { 0.5, 0.25, 0.1, 0.05, 0.01, 0.001, 0.0001, 0.00001 };
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Note that these are the complements of the confidence/probability levels: 0.5, 0.75, 0.9 .. 0.99999).
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Next we'll declare the distribution object we'll need, note that
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the /degrees of freedom/ parameter is the sample size less one:
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      students_t dist(Sn - 1);
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Most of what follows in the program is pretty printing, so let's focus
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on the calculation of the interval. First we need the t-statistic,
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computed using the /quantile/ function and our significance level.  Note
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that since the significance levels are the complement of the probability,
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we have to wrap the arguments in a call to /complement(...)/:
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   double T = quantile(complement(dist, alpha[i] / 2));
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Note that alpha was divided by two, since we'll be calculating
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both the upper and lower bounds: had we been interested in a single
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sided interval then we would have omitted this step.
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Now to complete the picture, we'll get the (one-sided) width of the
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interval from the t-statistic
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by multiplying by the standard deviation, and dividing by the square
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root of the sample size:
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   double w = T * Sd / sqrt(double(Sn));
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The two-sided interval is then the sample mean plus and minus this width.
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And apart from some more pretty-printing that completes the procedure.
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Let's take a look at some sample output, first using the
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[@http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook/eda/section4/eda428.htm
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Heat flow data] from the NIST site.  The data set was collected
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by Bob Zarr of NIST in January, 1990 from a heat flow meter
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calibration and stability analysis.
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The corresponding dataplot
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output for this test can be found in
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[@http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook/eda/section3/eda352.htm
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section 3.5.2] of the __handbook.
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[pre'''
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   __________________________________
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   2-Sided Confidence Limits For Mean
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   __________________________________
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   Number of Observations                  =  195
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   Mean                                    =  9.26146
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   Standard Deviation                      =  0.02278881
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   ___________________________________________________________________
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   Confidence       T           Interval          Lower          Upper
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    Value (%)     Value          Width            Limit          Limit
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   ___________________________________________________________________
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       50.000     0.676       1.103e-003        9.26036        9.26256
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       75.000     1.154       1.883e-003        9.25958        9.26334
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       90.000     1.653       2.697e-003        9.25876        9.26416
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       95.000     1.972       3.219e-003        9.25824        9.26468
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       99.000     2.601       4.245e-003        9.25721        9.26571
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       99.900     3.341       5.453e-003        9.25601        9.26691
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       99.990     3.973       6.484e-003        9.25498        9.26794
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       99.999     4.537       7.404e-003        9.25406        9.26886
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''']
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As you can see the large sample size (195) and small standard deviation (0.023)
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have combined to give very small intervals, indeed we can be
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very confident that the true mean is 9.2.
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For comparison the next example data output is taken from
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['P.K.Hou, O. W. Lau & M.C. Wong, Analyst (1983) vol. 108, p 64.
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and from Statistics for Analytical Chemistry, 3rd ed. (1994), pp 54-55
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J. C. Miller and J. N. Miller, Ellis Horwood ISBN 0 13 0309907.]
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The values result from the determination of mercury by cold-vapour
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atomic absorption.
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[pre'''
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   __________________________________
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   2-Sided Confidence Limits For Mean
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   __________________________________
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   Number of Observations                  =  3
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   Mean                                    =  37.8000000
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   Standard Deviation                      =  0.9643650
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   ___________________________________________________________________
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   Confidence       T           Interval          Lower          Upper
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    Value (%)     Value          Width            Limit          Limit
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   ___________________________________________________________________
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       50.000     0.816            0.455       37.34539       38.25461
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       75.000     1.604            0.893       36.90717       38.69283
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       90.000     2.920            1.626       36.17422       39.42578
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       95.000     4.303            2.396       35.40438       40.19562
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       99.000     9.925            5.526       32.27408       43.32592
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       99.900    31.599           17.594       20.20639       55.39361
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       99.990    99.992           55.673      -17.87346       93.47346
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       99.999   316.225          176.067     -138.26683      213.86683
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''']
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This time the fact that there are only three measurements leads to
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much wider intervals, indeed such large intervals that it's hard
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to be very confident in the location of the mean.
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[endsect]
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[section:tut_mean_test Testing a sample mean for difference from a "true" mean]
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When calibrating or comparing a scientific instrument or measurement method of some kind,
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we want to be answer the question "Does an observed sample mean differ from the
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"true" mean in any significant way?".  If it does, then we have evidence of
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a systematic difference.  This question can be answered with a Students-t test:
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more information can be found
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[@http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook/eda/section3/eda352.htm
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on the NIST site].
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Of course, the assignment of "true" to one mean may be quite arbitrary,
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often this is simply a "traditional" method of measurement.
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The following example code is taken from the example program
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[@../../example/students_t_single_sample.cpp students_t_single_sample.cpp].
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We'll begin by defining a procedure to determine which of the
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possible hypothesis are rejected or not-rejected
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at a given significance level:
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[note
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Non-statisticians might say 'not-rejected' means 'accepted',
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(often of the null-hypothesis) implying, wrongly, that there really *IS* no difference,
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but statisticans eschew this to avoid implying that there is positive evidence of 'no difference'.
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'Not-rejected' here means there is *no evidence* of difference, but there still might well be a difference.
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For example, see [@http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_ignorance argument from ignorance] and
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[@http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/311/7003/485 Absence of evidence does not constitute evidence of absence.]
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] [/ note]
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   // Needed includes:
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   #include <boost/math/distributions/students_t.hpp>
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   #include <iostream>
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   #include <iomanip>
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   // Bring everything into global namespace for ease of use:
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   using namespace boost::math;
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   using namespace std;
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   void single_sample_t_test(double M, double Sm, double Sd, unsigned Sn, double alpha)
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   {
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      //
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      // M = true mean.
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      // Sm = Sample Mean.
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      // Sd = Sample Standard Deviation.
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      // Sn = Sample Size.
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      // alpha = Significance Level.
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Most of the procedure is pretty-printing, so let's just focus on the
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calculation, we begin by calculating the t-statistic:
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   // Difference in means:
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   double diff = Sm - M;
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   // Degrees of freedom:
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   unsigned v = Sn - 1;
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   // t-statistic:
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   double t_stat = diff * sqrt(double(Sn)) / Sd;
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Finally calculate the probability from the t-statistic. If we're interested
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in simply whether there is a difference (either less or greater) or not,
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we don't care about the sign of the t-statistic,
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and we take the complement of the probability for comparison
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to the significance level:
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   students_t dist(v);
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   double q = cdf(complement(dist, fabs(t_stat)));
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The procedure then prints out the results of the various tests
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that can be done, these
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can be summarised in the following table:
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[table
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[[Hypothesis][Test]]
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[[The Null-hypothesis: there is
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*no difference* in means]
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[Reject if complement of CDF for |t| < significance level / 2:
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`cdf(complement(dist, fabs(t))) < alpha / 2`]]
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[[The Alternative-hypothesis: there
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*is difference* in means]
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[Reject if complement of CDF for |t| > significance level / 2:
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`cdf(complement(dist, fabs(t))) > alpha / 2`]]
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[[The Alternative-hypothesis: the sample mean *is less* than
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the true mean.]
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[Reject if CDF of t > 1 - significance level:
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`cdf(complement(dist, t)) < alpha`]]
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[[The Alternative-hypothesis: the sample mean *is greater* than
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the true mean.]
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[Reject if complement of CDF of t < significance level:
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`cdf(dist, t) < alpha`]]
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]
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[note
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Notice that the comparisons are against `alpha / 2` for a two-sided test
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and against `alpha` for a one-sided test]
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Now that we have all the parts in place, let's take a look at some
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sample output, first using the
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[@http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook/eda/section4/eda428.htm
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Heat flow data] from the NIST site.  The data set was collected
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by Bob Zarr of NIST in January, 1990 from a heat flow meter
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calibration and stability analysis.  The corresponding dataplot
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output for this test can be found in
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[@http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook/eda/section3/eda352.htm
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section 3.5.2] of the __handbook.
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[pre
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__________________________________
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Student t test for a single sample
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__________________________________
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Number of Observations                                 =  195
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Sample Mean                                            =  9.26146
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Sample Standard Deviation                              =  0.02279
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Expected True Mean                                     =  5.00000
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Sample Mean - Expected Test Mean                       =  4.26146
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Degrees of Freedom                                     =  194
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T Statistic                                            =  2611.28380
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Probability that difference is due to chance           =  0.000e+000
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Results for Alternative Hypothesis and alpha           =  0.0500
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Alternative Hypothesis     Conclusion
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Mean != 5.000            NOT REJECTED
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Mean  < 5.000            REJECTED
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Mean  > 5.000            NOT REJECTED
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]
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You will note the line that says the probability that the difference is
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due to chance is zero.  From a philosophical point of view, of course,
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the probability can never reach zero.  However, in this case the calculated
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probability is smaller than the smallest representable double precision number,
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hence the appearance of a zero here.  Whatever its "true" value is, we know it
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must be extraordinarily small, so the alternative hypothesis - that there is
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a difference in means - is not rejected.
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For comparison the next example data output is taken from
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['P.K.Hou, O. W. Lau & M.C. Wong, Analyst (1983) vol. 108, p 64.
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and from Statistics for Analytical Chemistry, 3rd ed. (1994), pp 54-55
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J. C. Miller and J. N. Miller, Ellis Horwood ISBN 0 13 0309907.]
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The values result from the determination of mercury by cold-vapour
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atomic absorption.
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[pre
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__________________________________
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Student t test for a single sample
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__________________________________
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Number of Observations                                 =  3
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Sample Mean                                            =  37.80000
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Sample Standard Deviation                              =  0.96437
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Expected True Mean                                     =  38.90000
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Sample Mean - Expected Test Mean                       =  -1.10000
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Degrees of Freedom                                     =  2
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T Statistic                                            =  -1.97566
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Probability that difference is due to chance           =  1.869e-001
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Results for Alternative Hypothesis and alpha           =  0.0500
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Alternative Hypothesis     Conclusion
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Mean != 38.900            REJECTED
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Mean  < 38.900            NOT REJECTED
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Mean  > 38.900            NOT REJECTED
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]
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As you can see the small number of measurements (3) has led to a large uncertainty
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in the location of the true mean.  So even though there appears to be a difference
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between the sample mean and the expected true mean, we conclude that there
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is no significant difference, and are unable to reject the null hypothesis.
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However, if we were to lower the bar for acceptance down to alpha = 0.1
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(a 90% confidence level) we see a different output:
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[pre
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__________________________________
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Student t test for a single sample
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__________________________________
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Number of Observations                                 =  3
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Sample Mean                                            =  37.80000
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Sample Standard Deviation                              =  0.96437
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Expected True Mean                                     =  38.90000
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Sample Mean - Expected Test Mean                       =  -1.10000
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Degrees of Freedom                                     =  2
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T Statistic                                            =  -1.97566
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Probability that difference is due to chance           =  1.869e-001
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Results for Alternative Hypothesis and alpha           =  0.1000
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Alternative Hypothesis     Conclusion
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Mean != 38.900            REJECTED
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Mean  < 38.900            NOT REJECTED
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Mean  > 38.900            REJECTED
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]
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In this case, we really have a borderline result,
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and more data (and/or more accurate data),
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is needed for a more convincing conclusion.
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[endsect]
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[section:tut_mean_size Estimating how large a sample size would have to become
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in order to give a significant Students-t test result with a single sample test]
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Imagine you have conducted a Students-t test on a single sample in order
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to check for systematic errors in your measurements.  Imagine that the
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result is borderline.  At this point one might go off and collect more data,
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but it might be prudent to first ask the question "How much more?".
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The parameter estimators of the students_t_distribution class
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can provide this information.
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This section is based on the example code in
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[@../../example/students_t_single_sample.cpp students_t_single_sample.cpp]
 | 
						|
and we begin by defining a procedure that will print out a table of
 | 
						|
estimated sample sizes for various confidence levels:
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
   // Needed includes:
 | 
						|
   #include <boost/math/distributions/students_t.hpp>
 | 
						|
   #include <iostream>
 | 
						|
   #include <iomanip>
 | 
						|
   // Bring everything into global namespace for ease of use:
 | 
						|
   using namespace boost::math;
 | 
						|
   using namespace std;
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
   void single_sample_find_df(
 | 
						|
      double M,          // M = true mean.
 | 
						|
      double Sm,         // Sm = Sample Mean.
 | 
						|
      double Sd)         // Sd = Sample Standard Deviation.
 | 
						|
   {
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Next we define a table of significance levels:
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
      double alpha[] = { 0.5, 0.25, 0.1, 0.05, 0.01, 0.001, 0.0001, 0.00001 };
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Printing out the table of sample sizes required for various confidence levels
 | 
						|
begins with the table header:
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
      cout << "\n\n"
 | 
						|
              "_______________________________________________________________\n"
 | 
						|
              "Confidence       Estimated          Estimated\n"
 | 
						|
              " Value (%)      Sample Size        Sample Size\n"
 | 
						|
              "              (one sided test)    (two sided test)\n"
 | 
						|
              "_______________________________________________________________\n";
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
And now the important part: the sample sizes required.  Class
 | 
						|
`students_t_distribution` has a static member function
 | 
						|
`find_degrees_of_freedom` that will calculate how large
 | 
						|
a sample size needs to be in order to give a definitive result.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
The first argument is the difference between the means that you
 | 
						|
wish to be able to detect, here it's the absolute value of the
 | 
						|
difference between the sample mean, and the true mean.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Then come two probability values: alpha and beta.  Alpha is the
 | 
						|
maximum acceptable risk of rejecting the null-hypothesis when it is
 | 
						|
in fact true.  Beta is the maximum acceptable risk of failing to reject
 | 
						|
the null-hypothesis when in fact it is false.
 | 
						|
Also note that for a two-sided test, alpha must be divided by 2.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
The final parameter of the function is the standard deviation of the sample.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
In this example, we assume that alpha and beta are the same, and call
 | 
						|
`find_degrees_of_freedom` twice: once with alpha for a one-sided test,
 | 
						|
and once with alpha/2 for a two-sided test.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
      for(unsigned i = 0; i < sizeof(alpha)/sizeof(alpha[0]); ++i)
 | 
						|
      {
 | 
						|
         // Confidence value:
 | 
						|
         cout << fixed << setprecision(3) << setw(10) << right << 100 * (1-alpha[i]);
 | 
						|
         // calculate df for single sided test:
 | 
						|
         double df = students_t::find_degrees_of_freedom(
 | 
						|
            fabs(M - Sm), alpha[i], alpha[i], Sd);
 | 
						|
         // convert to sample size:
 | 
						|
         double size = ceil(df) + 1;
 | 
						|
         // Print size:
 | 
						|
         cout << fixed << setprecision(0) << setw(16) << right << size;
 | 
						|
         // calculate df for two sided test:
 | 
						|
         df = students_t::find_degrees_of_freedom(
 | 
						|
            fabs(M - Sm), alpha[i]/2, alpha[i], Sd);
 | 
						|
         // convert to sample size:
 | 
						|
         size = ceil(df) + 1;
 | 
						|
         // Print size:
 | 
						|
         cout << fixed << setprecision(0) << setw(16) << right << size << endl;
 | 
						|
      }
 | 
						|
      cout << endl;
 | 
						|
   }
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Let's now look at some sample output using data taken from
 | 
						|
['P.K.Hou, O. W. Lau & M.C. Wong, Analyst (1983) vol. 108, p 64.
 | 
						|
and from Statistics for Analytical Chemistry, 3rd ed. (1994), pp 54-55
 | 
						|
J. C. Miller and J. N. Miller, Ellis Horwood ISBN 0 13 0309907.]
 | 
						|
The values result from the determination of mercury by cold-vapour
 | 
						|
atomic absorption.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Only three measurements were made, and the Students-t test above
 | 
						|
gave a borderline result, so this example
 | 
						|
will show us how many samples would need to be collected:
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
[pre'''
 | 
						|
_____________________________________________________________
 | 
						|
Estimated sample sizes required for various confidence levels
 | 
						|
_____________________________________________________________
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
True Mean                               =  38.90000
 | 
						|
Sample Mean                             =  37.80000
 | 
						|
Sample Standard Deviation               =  0.96437
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
_______________________________________________________________
 | 
						|
Confidence       Estimated          Estimated
 | 
						|
 Value (%)      Sample Size        Sample Size
 | 
						|
              (one sided test)    (two sided test)
 | 
						|
_______________________________________________________________
 | 
						|
    75.000               3               4
 | 
						|
    90.000               7               9
 | 
						|
    95.000              11              13
 | 
						|
    99.000              20              22
 | 
						|
    99.900              35              37
 | 
						|
    99.990              50              53
 | 
						|
    99.999              66              68
 | 
						|
''']
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
So in this case, many more measurements would have had to be made,
 | 
						|
for example at the 95% level, 14 measurements in total for a two-sided test.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
[endsect]
 | 
						|
[section:two_sample_students_t Comparing the means of two samples with the Students-t test]
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Imagine that we have two samples, and we wish to determine whether
 | 
						|
their means are different or not.  This situation often arises when
 | 
						|
determining whether a new process or treatment is better than an old one.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
In this example, we'll be using the
 | 
						|
[@http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook/eda/section3/eda3531.htm
 | 
						|
Car Mileage sample data] from the
 | 
						|
[@http://www.itl.nist.gov NIST website].  The data compares
 | 
						|
miles per gallon of US cars with miles per gallon of Japanese cars.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
The sample code is in
 | 
						|
[@../../example/students_t_two_samples.cpp students_t_two_samples.cpp].
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
There are two ways in which this test can be conducted: we can assume
 | 
						|
that the true standard deviations of the two samples are equal or not.
 | 
						|
If the standard deviations are assumed to be equal, then the calculation
 | 
						|
of the t-statistic is greatly simplified, so we'll examine that case first.
 | 
						|
In real life we should verify whether this assumption is valid with a
 | 
						|
Chi-Squared test for equal variances.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
We begin by defining a procedure that will conduct our test assuming equal
 | 
						|
variances:
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
   // Needed headers:
 | 
						|
   #include <boost/math/distributions/students_t.hpp>
 | 
						|
   #include <iostream>
 | 
						|
   #include <iomanip>
 | 
						|
   // Simplify usage:
 | 
						|
   using namespace boost::math;
 | 
						|
   using namespace std;
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
   void two_samples_t_test_equal_sd(
 | 
						|
           double Sm1,       // Sm1 = Sample 1 Mean.
 | 
						|
           double Sd1,       // Sd1 = Sample 1 Standard Deviation.
 | 
						|
           unsigned Sn1,     // Sn1 = Sample 1 Size.
 | 
						|
           double Sm2,       // Sm2 = Sample 2 Mean.
 | 
						|
           double Sd2,       // Sd2 = Sample 2 Standard Deviation.
 | 
						|
           unsigned Sn2,     // Sn2 = Sample 2 Size.
 | 
						|
           double alpha)     // alpha = Significance Level.
 | 
						|
   {
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Our procedure will begin by calculating the t-statistic, assuming
 | 
						|
equal variances the needed formulae are:
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
[equation dist_tutorial1]
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
where Sp is the "pooled" standard deviation of the two samples,
 | 
						|
and /v/ is the number of degrees of freedom of the two combined
 | 
						|
samples.  We can now write the code to calculate the t-statistic:
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
   // Degrees of freedom:
 | 
						|
   double v = Sn1 + Sn2 - 2;
 | 
						|
   cout << setw(55) << left << "Degrees of Freedom" << "=  " << v << "\n";
 | 
						|
   // Pooled variance:
 | 
						|
   double sp = sqrt(((Sn1-1) * Sd1 * Sd1 + (Sn2-1) * Sd2 * Sd2) / v);
 | 
						|
   cout << setw(55) << left << "Pooled Standard Deviation" << "=  " << sp << "\n";
 | 
						|
   // t-statistic:
 | 
						|
   double t_stat = (Sm1 - Sm2) / (sp * sqrt(1.0 / Sn1 + 1.0 / Sn2));
 | 
						|
   cout << setw(55) << left << "T Statistic" << "=  " << t_stat << "\n";
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
The next step is to define our distribution object, and calculate the
 | 
						|
complement of the probability:
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
   students_t dist(v);
 | 
						|
   double q = cdf(complement(dist, fabs(t_stat)));
 | 
						|
   cout << setw(55) << left << "Probability that difference is due to chance" << "=  "
 | 
						|
      << setprecision(3) << scientific << 2 * q << "\n\n";
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Here we've used the absolute value of the t-statistic, because we initially
 | 
						|
want to know simply whether there is a difference or not (a two-sided test).
 | 
						|
However, we can also test whether the mean of the second sample is greater
 | 
						|
or is less (one-sided test) than that of the first:
 | 
						|
all the possible tests are summed up in the following table:
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
[table
 | 
						|
[[Hypothesis][Test]]
 | 
						|
[[The Null-hypothesis: there is
 | 
						|
*no difference* in means]
 | 
						|
[Reject if complement of CDF for |t| < significance level / 2:
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
`cdf(complement(dist, fabs(t))) < alpha / 2`]]
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
[[The Alternative-hypothesis: there is a
 | 
						|
*difference* in means]
 | 
						|
[Reject if complement of CDF for |t| > significance level / 2:
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
`cdf(complement(dist, fabs(t))) < alpha / 2`]]
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
[[The Alternative-hypothesis: Sample 1 Mean is *less* than
 | 
						|
Sample 2 Mean.]
 | 
						|
[Reject if CDF of t > significance level:
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
`cdf(dist, t) > alpha`]]
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
[[The Alternative-hypothesis: Sample 1 Mean is *greater* than
 | 
						|
Sample 2 Mean.]
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
[Reject if complement of CDF of t > significance level:
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
`cdf(complement(dist, t)) > alpha`]]
 | 
						|
]
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
[note
 | 
						|
For a two-sided test we must compare against alpha / 2 and not alpha.]
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Most of the rest of the sample program is pretty-printing, so we'll
 | 
						|
skip over that, and take a look at the sample output for alpha=0.05
 | 
						|
(a 95% probability level).  For comparison the dataplot output
 | 
						|
for the same data is in
 | 
						|
[@http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook/eda/section3/eda353.htm
 | 
						|
section 1.3.5.3] of the __handbook.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
[pre'''
 | 
						|
   ________________________________________________
 | 
						|
   Student t test for two samples (equal variances)
 | 
						|
   ________________________________________________
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
   Number of Observations (Sample 1)                      =  249
 | 
						|
   Sample 1 Mean                                          =  20.145
 | 
						|
   Sample 1 Standard Deviation                            =  6.4147
 | 
						|
   Number of Observations (Sample 2)                      =  79
 | 
						|
   Sample 2 Mean                                          =  30.481
 | 
						|
   Sample 2 Standard Deviation                            =  6.1077
 | 
						|
   Degrees of Freedom                                     =  326
 | 
						|
   Pooled Standard Deviation                              =  6.3426
 | 
						|
   T Statistic                                            =  -12.621
 | 
						|
   Probability that difference is due to chance           =  5.273e-030
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
   Results for Alternative Hypothesis and alpha           =  0.0500'''
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
   Alternative Hypothesis              Conclusion
 | 
						|
   Sample 1 Mean != Sample 2 Mean       NOT REJECTED
 | 
						|
   Sample 1 Mean <  Sample 2 Mean       NOT REJECTED
 | 
						|
   Sample 1 Mean >  Sample 2 Mean       REJECTED
 | 
						|
]
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
So with a probability that the difference is due to chance of just
 | 
						|
5.273e-030, we can safely conclude that there is indeed a difference.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
The tests on the alternative hypothesis show that we must
 | 
						|
also reject the hypothesis that Sample 1 Mean is
 | 
						|
greater than that for Sample 2: in this case Sample 1 represents the
 | 
						|
miles per gallon for Japanese cars, and Sample 2 the miles per gallon for
 | 
						|
US cars, so we conclude that Japanese cars are on average more
 | 
						|
fuel efficient.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Now that we have the simple case out of the way, let's look for a moment
 | 
						|
at the more complex one: that the standard deviations of the two samples
 | 
						|
are not equal.  In this case the formula for the t-statistic becomes:
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
[equation dist_tutorial2]
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
And for the combined degrees of freedom we use the
 | 
						|
[@http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welch-Satterthwaite_equation Welch-Satterthwaite]
 | 
						|
approximation:
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
[equation dist_tutorial3]
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Note that this is one of the rare situations where the degrees-of-freedom
 | 
						|
parameter to the Student's t distribution is a real number, and not an
 | 
						|
integer value.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
[note
 | 
						|
Some statistical packages truncate the effective degrees of freedom to
 | 
						|
an integer value: this may be necessary if you are relying on lookup tables,
 | 
						|
but since our code fully supports non-integer degrees of freedom there is no
 | 
						|
need to truncate in this case.  Also note that when the degrees of freedom
 | 
						|
is small then the Welch-Satterthwaite approximation may be a significant
 | 
						|
source of error.]
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Putting these formulae into code we get:
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
   // Degrees of freedom:
 | 
						|
   double v = Sd1 * Sd1 / Sn1 + Sd2 * Sd2 / Sn2;
 | 
						|
   v *= v;
 | 
						|
   double t1 = Sd1 * Sd1 / Sn1;
 | 
						|
   t1 *= t1;
 | 
						|
   t1 /=  (Sn1 - 1);
 | 
						|
   double t2 = Sd2 * Sd2 / Sn2;
 | 
						|
   t2 *= t2;
 | 
						|
   t2 /= (Sn2 - 1);
 | 
						|
   v /= (t1 + t2);
 | 
						|
   cout << setw(55) << left << "Degrees of Freedom" << "=  " << v << "\n";
 | 
						|
   // t-statistic:
 | 
						|
   double t_stat = (Sm1 - Sm2) / sqrt(Sd1 * Sd1 / Sn1 + Sd2 * Sd2 / Sn2);
 | 
						|
   cout << setw(55) << left << "T Statistic" << "=  " << t_stat << "\n";
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Thereafter the code and the tests are performed the same as before.  Using
 | 
						|
are car mileage data again, here's what the output looks like:
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
[pre'''
 | 
						|
   __________________________________________________
 | 
						|
   Student t test for two samples (unequal variances)
 | 
						|
   __________________________________________________
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
   Number of Observations (Sample 1)                      =  249
 | 
						|
   Sample 1 Mean                                          =  20.145
 | 
						|
   Sample 1 Standard Deviation                            =  6.4147
 | 
						|
   Number of Observations (Sample 2)                      =  79
 | 
						|
   Sample 2 Mean                                          =  30.481
 | 
						|
   Sample 2 Standard Deviation                            =  6.1077
 | 
						|
   Degrees of Freedom                                     =  136.87
 | 
						|
   T Statistic                                            =  -12.946
 | 
						|
   Probability that difference is due to chance           =  1.571e-025
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
   Results for Alternative Hypothesis and alpha           =  0.0500'''
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
   Alternative Hypothesis              Conclusion
 | 
						|
   Sample 1 Mean != Sample 2 Mean       NOT REJECTED
 | 
						|
   Sample 1 Mean <  Sample 2 Mean       NOT REJECTED
 | 
						|
   Sample 1 Mean >  Sample 2 Mean       REJECTED
 | 
						|
]
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
This time allowing the variances in the two samples to differ has yielded
 | 
						|
a higher likelihood that the observed difference is down to chance alone
 | 
						|
(1.571e-025 compared to 5.273e-030 when equal variances were assumed).
 | 
						|
However, the conclusion remains the same: US cars are less fuel efficient
 | 
						|
than Japanese models.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
[endsect]
 | 
						|
[section:paired_st Comparing two paired samples with the Student's t distribution]
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Imagine that we have a before and after reading for each item in the sample:
 | 
						|
for example we might have measured blood pressure before and after administration
 | 
						|
of a new drug.  We can't pool the results and compare the means before and after
 | 
						|
the change, because each patient will have a different baseline reading.
 | 
						|
Instead we calculate the difference between before and after measurements
 | 
						|
in each patient, and calculate the mean and standard deviation of the differences.
 | 
						|
To test whether a significant change has taken place, we can then test
 | 
						|
the null-hypothesis that the true mean is zero using the same procedure
 | 
						|
we used in the single sample cases previously discussed.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
That means we can:
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
* [link math_toolkit.stat_tut.weg.st_eg.tut_mean_intervals Calculate confidence intervals of the mean].
 | 
						|
If the endpoints of the interval differ in sign then we are unable to reject
 | 
						|
the null-hypothesis that there is no change.
 | 
						|
* [link math_toolkit.stat_tut.weg.st_eg.tut_mean_test Test whether the true mean is zero]. If the
 | 
						|
result is consistent with a true mean of zero, then we are unable to reject the
 | 
						|
null-hypothesis that there is no change.
 | 
						|
* [link math_toolkit.stat_tut.weg.st_eg.tut_mean_size Calculate how many pairs of readings we would need
 | 
						|
in order to obtain a significant result].
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
[endsect]
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
[endsect][/section:st_eg Student's t]
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
[/
 | 
						|
  Copyright 2006, 2012 John Maddock and Paul A. Bristow.
 | 
						|
  Distributed under the Boost Software License, Version 1.0.
 | 
						|
  (See accompanying file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at
 | 
						|
  http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt).
 | 
						|
]
 | 
						|
 |