Date:         Thu, 9 Aug 2001 12:42:42 +0000
Reply-To:     Shail Dobson <dobson_shail@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender:       "SPSSX(r) Discussion" <SPSSX-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From:         Shail Dobson <dobson_shail@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Why t-test?
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed

Yes, we could always use the t-test for comparing means, irrespective of
sample size.


>From: David Brown <david_brown123@YAHOO.CA>
>Reply-To: David Brown <david_brown123@YAHOO.CA>
>To: SPSSX-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>Subject: Why t-test?
>Date: Thu, 9 Aug 2001 08:22:50 -0400
>
>Hello,
>
>The t-test is used to test the null hypothesis of no
>difference between the means of two independent
>samples. The t-test is suitable for small sample
>sizes; therefore, the t-distribution is used as the
>sampling distribution instead of the normal
>distribution. When the degrees of freedom reach 100+,
>the t-distribution approaches the normal distribution;
>thus, the t-test would act like a z-test. For a sample
>size of 30+, the z-test is used.
>
>My question is why wouldn’t we always use a t-test?
>
>David
>
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