Parametric Tests and Assumptions Flashcards
What do parametric tests assess?
What is required to run them?
- Parametric tests look at group means
- Require data to follow a normal distribution
- Can deal with unequal variances across groups
- Generally are more powerful
- still produce reliable results with continuous data not normally distributed if sample size requirements met (CLT)
If data does not meet parametric assumptions what non parametric tests would you use?
- Correlation tests, which are non parametric versions/ So for example, a Spearman’s Correlation Test.
- Non parametric tests also assess group means, they just don’t require a normal distribution.
What is the loop hole with parametric tests when continuous data is not normally distributed (therefore according to assumptions, perhaps should choose non parametric one?)
- Loophole is that sample size requirements are met due to central limit theorem. In these cases you can still produce reliable results.
What do non parametric tests assess?
How is this different to parametric tests?
- Group MEDIANS
- Don’t require data be normally distributed
- Can handle small sample sizes
Because parametric tests assess group means. They require a larger sample size.
What is one easy question to ask ourselves when figuring out whether to choose parametric or non parametric?
What is the sample size we’re working with.
Non parametric can deal with small sample sizes, parametric not so much..
What are the four parametric test assumptions?
- Additivity and linearity
- Normality
- Homogeneity of variance
- Independence of observations
What is this equation?
y(i) = b(0) + b(1)X(1) + e(i)
This is the standard linear model (that describes a straight line), and we see this when looking at additivity and linearity
What does the Y, B(0) and B(1) and E(i) stand for in the below?
y(i) = b(0) + b(1)X(1) + e(i)
Y(i) = the Xth persons score on the outcome variable B(0) = The Y intercept - the value of Y when X = 0 B(1) = the regression coefficient for the first predictor (so the gradient of the regression line (slope) and the strength of the relationship e = the difference between the actual and predicted value of the Y for the (i)th person.
What does the standard linear model equation describe?
Both the direction and the strength between the ASSOCIATION of the X and Y variable. Always have an error term at the end.
What does the E at the end of the standard regression equation represent
The difference between the actual observed data point and the LINE the we drew in the data points. That’s each data point (or persons) residual or error.
In parametric tests are we adding terms together or multiplying? If so, why?
Because predictors do not DEPEND on the values of other variables.
We use additive data, so x1 and x2 predict T.
So the predictors (variables) and their effect, added together, lead to an outcome which is a linear function of predictors x1 + x2.
Basically linear and additive data say X1 and X2 predict Y.
Basically, what does linear and additive allude to?
That x1 and x2 predict y
Why are variables not multiplied in linear equations?
Because we are looking at linear relationships which involve adding terms together. Not multiplying. Adding the predictors together says that the outcome, or DV, is a linear function of the predictors AND their effects
b(0) + b(1)X(1) + e(i)
How do we deal with assumptions for ANOVA?
- Independent observations: Repeated measures
- Normality – transform or use Kruskal Wallis
- Homogeneity of variances – test with Levene’s test, use Brown-Forsythe or Welch F
How do we deal with assumptions for correlations?
- Normality – Use Spearman correlation
* Linearity: if monotonic, use Spearman, otherwise transform
How do we deal with assumptions for regression?
• Continuous outcome (otherwise use nonlinear methods)
• Non-zero variance in predictors
• Independent observations: Repeated measures
• Linearity – check with partial regression plots, try transforming
• Independent errors: For any pair of observations, the error terms should be
uncorrelated
• Normally-distributed errors: The errors (i.e., residuals) should be random and
normally distributed with a mean of 0
• Homoscedasticity: For each value of the predictors, the variance of the error term
should be constant
How do we deal with assumptions for multiple regression?
Refer to Multiple
Regression lecture
slides #19-32
The above, and also multicollinearity – delete or combine
How do we deal with assumptions for moderation?
- One IV must be continuous (if both X and M are categorical, use factorial ANOVA)
- Each IV and Y, and interaction term and Y, should be linear – try transforming
Why would the best central tendency measure for your data sometimes be a median, and other times be a mean?
Generally the mean is best but media is preferred measure of central tendency when there are a few extreme scores in the distribution of the data (a single outlier can have a great effect on the mean)
Or, perhaps there are some missing values in the data.
What does the Gaussian distribution or bell curve mean?
Normal distribution.
What are the four assumptions for parametric tests?
Additivity and linearity
Normality
Homogeneity of variance
Independence of observations
y(i) = b(0) + b(1)X(1) + e(i)
What is this equation telling us? Which parametric test assumption is it associated with?
THE STANDARD LINEAR MODEL for additivity and linearity
Y(i) = the Xth persons score on the outcome variable B(0) = The Y intercept - the value of Y when X = 0 B(1) = the regression coefficient for the first predictor (so the gradient of the regression line (slope) and the strength of the relationship e = the difference between the actual and predicted value of the Y for the (i)th person.
With the standard linear model, how many X variables can be added to an equation for a straight line?
However many as you like!
What is Y in the standard linear model equation?
The outcome variable
What does the little i next to the y(i) in the below equation represent?
y(i) = b(0) + b(1)X(1) + e(i)
Each individual.
What does the b(0) represent in the below equation?
y(i) = b(0) + b(1)X(1) + e(i)
the Y-intercept (Value of Y when X=0)
Most importantly, it is the POINT at which the regression line crosses the X axis.
What does b(1) represent in the below equation?
It’s the first predictor, but more specifically it’s the regression coefficient for this predictor. It’s the EFFECT. Regression coefficient = effect.
It’s the SLOPE of the regression line, and it’s the direction/strength of the relationship.
It’s the direction and strength of the magnitude between the ASSOCIATION of the x and y variables . So we would repeat this for another x2. so b(2) would become the effect for that X
So that’s why it’s the effect
What does the e(i) represent in the below equation?
y(i) = b(0) + b(1)X(1) + e(i)
The e(i) is the difference between the actual and predicted value of Y for the ith person.
It’s the DIFFERENCE between the actual data point and the line that we drew in the data points - it’s each persons residual or error.
Why are error terms and residuals important?
Because we can’t predict everything perfectly. Plotting true data points won’t always follow a straight line. They will fall a bit off the line.
What is the outcome y telling us about x1 and x2 and the association?
That X1 and X2 predicts y. And that Y is an outcome of the additive combination of the EFFECTS of X1 and X2.
So we’ve looked at what additivity means, but how can we assess linearity? How do we know if a relationship is a straight line?
- By plotting the observed vs. predicted values (where we would want to see them symmetrically distributed around a diagonal line) (like QQ plot)
- By plotting residuals vs predicted values (when you have horizontal line and symmetrically distributed dots around it)
When observing the plots showing QQ and residuals vs predicted, what would tell us if violated?
Looking out for a bow shape. Or just in general if it’s looking like the dots are curving away from the diagonal line.
How do we fix when linearity appears to be violated due to bow shape?
- By applying a NONLINEAR transformation to variables
- By adding another regressor that is a nonlinear function - polynomial curve
- Examine the moderators
So now that we have looked at additivity and linearity, what is normality when it comes to parametric test assumptions?
Not about data being normally distributed only.
But, the normal distribution is relevant to:
- Parameters (sampling distribution)
- Residuals / Error Terms (confidence intervals around a parameter or null hypothesis significant testing)
Why, when looking at the assumption of normality, is it not enough to say the data is normally distributed so that’s fin?
Because the CLT says as the SAMPLE size gets closer to positive infinity (larger) then the sampling distribution, NOT the data, approaches normality.
What does the central limit theorem say and how does this influence how we interpret normality for the parametric test assumption?
As the sample size increases towards infinity, the sampling distribution approaches normal. There is an equal probability of selecting a value 0 to 1, therefore it’s uniform.
In bold: The CLT says the means are normally distributed .
So, the means were calculated using data from a uniform distribution, but the means themselves are NOT uniformly distributed. Instead, the means are NORMALLY distributed.
If you collect samples from distributions, whatever types, the means will be normally distributed. CLT says who cares where your data comes from.
The sample means will always be normally distributed. So we don’t need to worry about distribution. That’s why we look at normality in a different way for this assumption of normality for parametric tests.
What can the sample means collected from a data sets be for?
- Make confidence intervals
- Do T tests that ask if there is a difference between the means from two samples
- ANOVA where we ask if there is a difference among the means of three or more samples
- and any other statistical test that uses a sample mean
True or false: Samples means will be normally distributed always?
True
For the central limit theorem the sample size needs to be at least 30: True or False?
False. This is a rule of thumb that is generally considered safe but you can break the rule - Michelle used a sample size of 20 once.
What is the fine print for the CLT?
In order for it to work at all, you have to be able to calculate a mean from your sample.
True or false: even if data itself is not normally distributed, the means from the sampling distribution are normally distributed
TRUE