introduction to statistical testing: The Sign test

Question 1

When is the sign test used?

Answer 1

• we have looked for a difference between conditions (used an experiment)
• we have used a repeated measures or matched pairs design
• the data is nominal (category)

Question 2

What is step one of the sign test?

Answer 2

Record the scores in a table

Question 3

What is step two of the sign test?

Answer 3

Work out the differences between each set of scores

Question 4

What is step three of the sign test?

Answer 4

Record whether each difference is a positive or negative value

Question 5

What is step four of the sign test?

Answer 5

Work out ‘S’. This is known as the calculated or observed value. S is the number of the least frequent sign.

Question 6

What is step five of the sign test?

Answer 6

Compare the calculated value to a critical value in a table

Question 7

What information is needed to compare the calculated value to the critical value?

Answer 7

1. N= the number of participants
2. one tailed is a directional hypotheses, two tailed is a non-directional hypothesis
3. The level of significance is the probability of the test giving you the wrong information
4. for this sign test a calculated value is considered significant if it is = or less than the critical value and it ca be supported if it’s significant