T Scores in Statistics

A t score is one form of a standardized test statistic (the other you’ll come across in elementary statistics is the z-score). The t score
formula enables you to take an individual score and transform it into a standardized form — one which helps you to compare scores

You’ll want to use the t score formula when you don’t know the population standard deviation and you have a small sample (under
30).

The t score formula is:

Where
x̄ = sample mean
μ0 = population mean
s = sample standard deviation
n = sample size

What is the T Score Formula used for?

You traditionally look up a t score in a t-table. The number of items in your sample, minus one, is your degrees of freedom. For
example, if you have 20 items in your sample, then df = 19. You use the degrees of freedom along with the confidence level you are
willing to accept, to decide whether to support or reject the null hypothesis.

The t score formula can also be used to solve probability questions. You won’t have an alpha level, but you can use the result from the
formula, along with a calculator like the TI-83, to find probabilities.

Example of the T Score Formula

Sample question:
A law school claims it’s graduates earn an average of $300 per hour. A sample of 15 graduates is selected and found to have a mean
salary of $280 with a sample standard deviation of $50. Assuming the school’s claim is true, what is the probability that the mean
salary of graduates will be no more than $280?

Step 1: Plug the information into the formula and solve:

x̄ = sample mean = 280
μ0 = population mean = 300
s = sample standard deviation = 50
n = sample size = 15

t = (280 – 300)/ (50/√15) = -20 / 12.909945 = -1.549.

Step 2: Subtract 1 from the sample size to get the degrees of freedom:
15 – 1 = 14. The degrees of freedom lets you know which form of the t distribution to use (there are many, but you can solve these
problems without knowing that fact!).

Step 3: Use a calculator to find the probability using your degrees of freedom (8). You have several options, including the TI-83 (see
the bottom part of How to find a t distribution on a TI 83) and this online calculator. Here’s the result from that calculator. Note that I
selected the radio button under the left tail, as we’re looking for a result that’s no more than $280

Tips:

1. z-scores and t scores both represent standard deviations from the mean, but while “0” on a z-score is 0 standard deviations
from the mean, a “50” on a t score represents the same thing. That’s because t scores use a mean of 50 and z-scores use a mean
of 0.
2. A t score of over 50 is above average; below 50 is below average. In general, a t score of above 60 means that the score is in
the top one-sixth of the distribution; above 63, the top one-tenth. A t score
below 40 indicates a lowest one-sixth position; below 37, the bottom one-tenth.