Assumptions and Conditions for Hypothesis Testing

The mathematics underlying statistical methods are based on assumptions that are
unknowable, we never know if the assumptions are true. But there are conditions that we can
test that may verify that an assumption is plausible or override an assumption that is violated.
Some procedures can provide very reliable results even when an assumption is not fully met.
In this case, a condition indicates whether or not we can safely override the assumption and
apply the procedure anyway.
Some assumptions are unverifiable and we just have to decide, after careful thought, if we
believe they are true.
In order for these tests to be valid there are assumptions and conditions that must be met. If they are not met, then the
p-value would not be correct and we could not make a decision.

Our 9 Hypothesis Tests:
1 one-proportion z-test H
0
: p = # H
1
: p , < , or > #
2 two-proportion z-test H
0
: p
1
p
2
= 0 H
1
: p
1
p
2
, < , or > 0
3 one-mean t-test H
0
: = # H
1
: , < , or > #
4 two-mean t-test H
0
:
1

2
= # H
1
:
1

2
, < , or > #
5 paired t-test H
0
:
d
= # H
1
:
d
, < , or > #
6 Goodness-of-Fit test H
0
: p
1
= p
2
=p
3
= p
4
H
1
: At least one proportion is different
7 Test of Independence H
0
: The two variables are independent
H
1
: The two variables are dependent
8 Test of Homogeneity H
0
: The two populations are distributed the same with respect to the
multinomial variable
H
1
: The two populations are NOT distributed the same with respect to the
multinomial variable
9 ANOVA Test H
0
:
1
=
2
=
3
=
4
H
1
: At least one mean is different


Assumptions and Conditions
1 one-proportion z-test H
0
: p = # H
1
: p , < , or > #
Independent Trials Assumption: The trials are independent
Random Condition: the sample taken from the population must be random
10% Condition: The sample size must be 10% or smaller than the population size
Normal Distribution Assumption:
Success/Failure Condition: We must have at least 10 successes and at least 10 failures in the sample.
This can be calculated by taking the sample size n and multiplying it by (the sample
proportion of successes) to get the number of successes. Multiply n by (the sample
proportion of failures) to get the number of failures in the data set.

2 two-proportion z-test H
0
: p
1
p
2
= 0 H
1
: p
1
p
2
, < , or > 0
The conditions for p
1
p
2
are the same ones we used for p
( Random Condition , 10% Condition , Success/Failure Condition )
But we have to add one more:
INDEPENDENT GROUPS ASSUMPTION.
We need the two samples to be independently selected so we have two INDEPENDENT RANDOM VARIABLES

and

.
(This assumption is not verifiable; theres no condition to test. We just have to think about how the data were collected
and decide whether it seems reasonable)

3 one-mean t-test H
0
: = # H
1
: , < , or > #
One assumption that we always need is Independence. The data collected should be independent of one another.
A random selection from the population where n < 10%N will take care of this assumption.

Random Condition
10% Condition

Normal Distribution Assumption: The population is Normally distributed.

The Nearly Normal Condition: The data are roughly unimodal and symmetric and without outliers.

OR

Large Sample Condition: The sample size is a least 30 or 40 depending on your text.

4 two-mean t-test H
0
:
1

2
= # H
1
:
1

2
, < , or > #
Same as for the one-mean t-test - But you must check it for two samples now.
But we have to add one more:
INDEPENDENT GROUPS ASSUMPTION.
We need the two samples to be independently selected so we have two INDEPENDENT RANDOM VARIABLES

and

.
(This assumption is not verifiable; theres no condition to test. We just have to think about how the data were collected
and decide whether it seems reasonable)

5 paired t-test H
0
:
d
= # H
1
:
d
, < , or > #
Paired Data Assumption: The data come from matched pairs. (paired data)
With everything from one-mean t-test: (all of this is for the DIFFERENCE column)
Independence Assumption
Random Condition
10% Condition

Normal Distribution Assumption: The population is Normally distributed.

The Nearly Normal Condition: The data are roughly unimodal and symmetric and without outliers.

OR

Large Sample Condition: The sample size is a least 30 or 40 depending on your text.











Chi-Square Tests
All have the SAME assumptions and conditions
6 Goodness-of-Fit test H
0
: p
1
= p
2
=p
3
= p
4
H
1
: At least one proportion is different
7 Test of Independence H
0
: The two variables are independent
H
1
: The two variables are dependent
8 Test of Homogeneity H
0
: The two populations are distributed the same with respect to the
multinomial variable
H
1
: The two populations are NOT distributed the same with respect to the
multinomial variable
Counted Data Condition: The data are counts for a categorical variable.
Large Sample Assumption: The sample is large enough to use a chi-square model.
EXPECTED Counts Condition: Our expected values needs to be at least 5 for each cell in the table.



9 ANOVA Test H
0
:
1
=
2
=
3
=
4
H
1
: At least one mean is different
There are assumptions that must be true in order for this test to be valid. They are the same assumptions we made for
the t-tests (independence, randomization, nearly normal, small sample relative to population size) BUT we do have one
new assumption:
EQUAL VARIANCE CONDITION. The spread of the treatment groups must be similar.