introduction to the t statistic

Question 1

estimated standard error (svx̄)

Answer 1

used as an estimate of σvx̄ when the value of σ is unknown; computed from the sample standard deviation and provides an estimate of the standard distance between a sample mean X̄ and the population mean μ

Question 2

t statistic

Answer 2

used to test hypotheses about μ when the value for σ is unknown; the formula is basically the z-score formula, but with the estimated standard error in place of the standard error (t = (X̄ - μ) / svx̄)

Question 3

assumptions of the t test

Answer 3

(1) the values in the sample consist of independent observations, (2) the population sampled is normal