Sign test - overview
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Sign test | Binomial test for a single proportion | Logistic regression | Two sample $t$ test - equal variances assumed |
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Independent variable | Independent variable | Independent variables | Independent/grouping variable | |
2 paired groups | None | One or more quantitative of interval or ratio level and/or one or more categorical with independent groups, transformed into code variables | One categorical with 2 independent groups | |
Dependent variable | Dependent variable | Dependent variable | Dependent variable | |
One of ordinal level | One categorical with 2 independent groups | One categorical with 2 independent groups | One quantitative of interval or ratio level | |
Null hypothesis | Null hypothesis | Null hypothesis | Null hypothesis | |
| H0: $\pi = \pi_0$
Here $\pi$ is the population proportion of 'successes', and $\pi_0$ is the population proportion of successes according to the null hypothesis. | Model chi-squared test for the complete regression model:
| H0: $\mu_1 = \mu_2$
Here $\mu_1$ is the population mean for group 1, and $\mu_2$ is the population mean for group 2. | |
Alternative hypothesis | Alternative hypothesis | Alternative hypothesis | Alternative hypothesis | |
| H1 two sided: $\pi \neq \pi_0$ H1 right sided: $\pi > \pi_0$ H1 left sided: $\pi < \pi_0$ | Model chi-squared test for the complete regression model:
| H1 two sided: $\mu_1 \neq \mu_2$ H1 right sided: $\mu_1 > \mu_2$ H1 left sided: $\mu_1 < \mu_2$ | |
Assumptions | Assumptions | Assumptions | Assumptions | |
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Test statistic | Test statistic | Test statistic | Test statistic | |
$W = $ number of difference scores that is larger than 0 | $X$ = number of successes in the sample | Model chi-squared test for the complete regression model:
The wald statistic can be defined in two ways:
Likelihood ratio chi-squared test for individual $\beta_k$:
| $t = \dfrac{(\bar{y}_1 - \bar{y}_2) - 0}{s_p\sqrt{\dfrac{1}{n_1} + \dfrac{1}{n_2}}} = \dfrac{\bar{y}_1 - \bar{y}_2}{s_p\sqrt{\dfrac{1}{n_1} + \dfrac{1}{n_2}}}$
Here $\bar{y}_1$ is the sample mean in group 1, $\bar{y}_2$ is the sample mean in group 2, $s_p$ is the pooled standard deviation, $n_1$ is the sample size of group 1, and $n_2$ is the sample size of group 2. The 0 represents the difference in population means according to the null hypothesis. The denominator $s_p\sqrt{\dfrac{1}{n_1} + \dfrac{1}{n_2}}$ is the standard error of the sampling distribution of $\bar{y}_1 - \bar{y}_2$. The $t$ value indicates how many standard errors $\bar{y}_1 - \bar{y}_2$ is removed from 0. Note: we could just as well compute $\bar{y}_2 - \bar{y}_1$ in the numerator, but then the left sided alternative becomes $\mu_2 < \mu_1$, and the right sided alternative becomes $\mu_2 > \mu_1$. | |
n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | Pooled standard deviation | |
- | - | - | $s_p = \sqrt{\dfrac{(n_1 - 1) \times s^2_1 + (n_2 - 1) \times s^2_2}{n_1 + n_2 - 2}}$ | |
Sampling distribution of $W$ if H0 were true | Sampling distribution of $X$ if H0 were true | Sampling distribution of $X^2$ and of the Wald statistic if H0 were true | Sampling distribution of $t$ if H0 were true | |
The exact distribution of $W$ under the null hypothesis is the Binomial($n$, $P$) distribution, with $n =$ number of positive differences $+$ number of negative differences, and $P = 0.5$.
If $n$ is large, $W$ is approximately normally distributed under the null hypothesis, with mean $nP = n \times 0.5$ and standard deviation $\sqrt{nP(1-P)} = \sqrt{n \times 0.5(1 - 0.5)}$. Hence, if $n$ is large, the standardized test statistic $$z = \frac{W - n \times 0.5}{\sqrt{n \times 0.5(1 - 0.5)}}$$ follows approximately the standard normal distribution if the null hypothesis were true. | Binomial($n$, $P$) distribution.
Here $n = N$ (total sample size), and $P = \pi_0$ (population proportion according to the null hypothesis). | Sampling distribution of $X^2$, as computed in the model chi-squared test for the complete model:
| $t$ distribution with $n_1 + n_2 - 2$ degrees of freedom | |
Significant? | Significant? | Significant? | Significant? | |
If $n$ is small, the table for the binomial distribution should be used: Two sided:
If $n$ is large, the table for standard normal probabilities can be used: Two sided:
| Two sided:
| For the model chi-squared test for the complete regression model and likelihood ratio chi-squared test for individual $\beta_k$:
| Two sided:
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n.a. | n.a. | Wald-type approximate $C\%$ confidence interval for $\beta_k$ | $C\%$ confidence interval for $\mu_1 - \mu_2$ | |
- | - | $b_k \pm z^* \times SE_{b_k}$ where the critical value $z^*$ is the value under the normal curve with the area $C / 100$ between $-z^*$ and $z^*$ (e.g. $z^*$ = 1.96 for a 95% confidence interval). | $(\bar{y}_1 - \bar{y}_2) \pm t^* \times s_p\sqrt{\dfrac{1}{n_1} + \dfrac{1}{n_2}}$
where the critical value $t^*$ is the value under the $t_{n_1 + n_2 - 2}$ distribution with the area $C / 100$ between $-t^*$ and $t^*$ (e.g. $t^*$ = 2.086 for a 95% confidence interval when df = 20). The confidence interval for $\mu_1 - \mu_2$ can also be used as significance test. | |
n.a. | n.a. | Goodness of fit measure $R^2_L$ | Effect size | |
- | - | $R^2_L = \dfrac{D_{null} - D_K}{D_{null}}$ There are several other goodness of fit measures in logistic regression. In logistic regression, there is no single agreed upon measure of goodness of fit. | Cohen's $d$: Standardized difference between the mean in group $1$ and in group $2$: $$d = \frac{\bar{y}_1 - \bar{y}_2}{s_p}$$ Cohen's $d$ indicates how many standard deviations $s_p$ the two sample means are removed from each other. | |
n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | Visual representation | |
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Equivalent to | n.a. | n.a. | Equivalent to | |
Two sided sign test is equivalent to
| - | - | One way ANOVA with an independent variable with 2 levels ($I$ = 2):
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Example context | Example context | Example context | Example context | |
Do people tend to score higher on mental health after a mindfulness course? | Is the proportion of smokers amongst office workers different from $\pi_0 = 0.2$? | Can body mass index, stress level, and gender predict whether people get diagnosed with diabetes? | Is the average mental health score different between men and women? Assume that in the population, the standard deviation of mental health scores is equal amongst men and women. | |
SPSS | SPSS | SPSS | SPSS | |
Analyze > Nonparametric Tests > Legacy Dialogs > 2 Related Samples...
| Analyze > Nonparametric Tests > Legacy Dialogs > Binomial...
| Analyze > Regression > Binary Logistic...
| Analyze > Compare Means > Independent-Samples T Test...
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Jamovi | Jamovi | Jamovi | Jamovi | |
Jamovi does not have a specific option for the sign test. However, you can do the Friedman test instead. The $p$ value resulting from this Friedman test is equivalent to the two sided $p$ value that would have resulted from the sign test. Go to:
ANOVA > Repeated Measures ANOVA - Friedman
| Frequencies > 2 Outcomes - Binomial test
| Regression > 2 Outcomes - Binomial
| T-Tests > Independent Samples T-Test
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Practice questions | Practice questions | Practice questions | Practice questions | |