| The One Sample
t-Test is a hypothesis
test used to test the mean
of a small sample taken from a population
with a normal distribution against a specified
value. The hypothesis is:
H0 the population mean equals
a specified value
H1 the popular mean is [equal
to/less than/greater than] a specified
value
The test is:
where:
 |
sample mean |
| μ 0 |
specified value |
| s |
sample standard deviation |
| n |
sample size |
The critical value of the t statistic t0
can be found in t
distribution tables, or the
p-value
can be found using the Excel function:
=TDIST(|t0|,
ν
,
Tails)
The number of
degrees of freedom 'ν
' is n - 1, the number of tails is 1 for
a one
sided test and 2 for a two
sided test.
The t-test requires that the population
conforms to a normal
distribution.
|
