Non-parametric

Techniques

Sign test

Wilcoxon test

Mann Whitney U test

Kruskal Wallis and Friedman tests

• Parametric tests assume underlying statistical
distributions in the data. Therefore, several
conditions of validity must be met so that the
result of a parametric test is reliable.  

• Non-parametric tests do not rely on any

distribution. They can thus be applied even if
parametric conditions of validity are not met. 
 One-tailed (directional) hypothesis –

• Predicts in which direction the change will take place, i.e., greater,
smaller, less, more.
• Eg., females will correctly recall more words than males on a memory
test.

 Two-tailed (non-directional) hypothesis –

• Predicts that the IV will have an effect on the DV, but the direction of
the effect is not specified.
• It just states that there will be a difference.
• Eg., there will be a difference in how many words are recalled
correctly by females and males.
Conditions required for Non-parametric
statistics

• The data is measured on nominal data.

• The data is measured on ordinal data.

• The method can even be applied on interval and

ratio when no assumptions can be made about the
population distribution.
 Sign test
• Used to determine if there is a significant difference
between the mean characteristics of 2 populations.

• Based on the signs (+ or -) of the deviations rather than the

exact magnitude of the variable values.

• Continuous distribution.

• Nominal data.

• Rank scale.
 Small samples (N<35)
No. Condition 1 Condition 2 Sign
1 48 42 +
2 56 50 +
3 43 41 +
4 46 32 +
5 42 36 +
6 39 38 +
7 42 43 -
8 50 50
9 47 37 +
10 53 39 +
11 51 31 +
12 30 30
 Calculation

• No. of positive signs = 9

• No. of negative signs = 1

• Ignore any no differences (0)

• N = 10
• x (less frequent sign) = 1
• Compare x value (calculated value), i.e.,1 with critical value in Table D
at α = .05 level of significance.
• Calculated value of x must be < or = to the critical value in order
to be significant.

• Our calculated value of x (1) is equal to the critical value (1)

at .05 level of significance which indicates that the difference
between participants’ treatment to condition 1 and condition 2
is significant.

• Therefore, the null hypothesis is rejected in favor of alternate

hypothesis.

• *For a two-tailed test, the probability values in Table D are

doubled.
 Large samples (N>35)

• Here, we use +1 when x < N/2 and -1 when x > N/2.

• Table A is used to check the level of significance.
Practice
 Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test

• It is the non-parametric alternative to paired t test.

• A paired test is used on repeated measure research

design where the same sample is studied twice.

• Researcher is interested in comparing before and

after effect.
Small Samples (N<15)

10
9 11.2 10.6 0.6
10 10.7 10.2 0.5
 9 9

9 0.6 0.6 7 7
10 0.5 0.5 5.5 5.5
• T⁺ (the sum of the ranks of the positive difference scores) = 39.5

• T⁻ (the sum of the ranks of the negative difference scores) = -5.5

• Let α = .05

• N=9

• Check Table H for T⁺.

• Critical or p value = 0.0195

• *For a two-tailed test, double the tabled entry.

• 0.0195 x 2 = 0.039

• Critical value of T⁺ must be < or = to the chosen level of significance in

order for it to be significant.

• The critical or p value (0.039) is less than .05 level of significance which
indicates that there is a significant difference between the two machines
in terms of task completion time.

• Therefore, the null hypothesis is rejected in favor of alternate hypothesis.

 Large samples (N>15)

• Mean = N(N+1)/4

• SD = N(N+1)(2N+1)/24

• z = T⁺-M/SD

• Table A is used to find the p value.

 Practice
No. Condition 1 Condition 2
1 50.4 20.3
2 87.0 17.0
3 25.1 6.5
4 28.5 25.0
5 26.9 5.4
6 36.6 29.2
7 1.0 2.9
8 43.8 6.6
9 44.2 15.8
10 10.4 8.3
11 29.9 34.0
12 27.7 8.0
 Mann-Whitney U test

• It is the non-parametric alternative to the independent sample t test.

• It is used to compare two sample means that come from the same
population, and used to test whether two sample means are equal or
not.

• Usually, Mann-Whitney U test is used when the data is ordinal or

when the assumptions of the t-test are not met.
 Assumptions

• The sample drawn from the population is random.

• Independence within the sample is assumed. It means that

an observation is in one group or the other (it cannot be
both).

• Ordinal measurement scale is assumed.

Small Samples (m or n< or =10)
No. Experimental scores Control scores
1 9 6
2 11 8
3 15 10
4 - 13

No. Experimental Rank Control scores Rank

scores (X) (Y)
1 9 3 6 1
2 11 5 8 2
3 15 7 10 4
4 - 13 6
Wx = 15 Wy = 13
• m (size of the group X) = 3
• n (size of the group Y) = 4
• Wx (sum of the ranks in group X) = 15
• Critical upper limit = Wx = 15
• Check Table J to find the p value.
• p value = .2000
• .2000 > .05

• H1 is rejected in favor of H0. It is concluded that there is no significant

difference in experimental and control group scores.
 Large Sample (m or n>10)

• Mean = m(N+1)/2

• SD = mn(N+1)/12

• z = Wx + .5 – Mean/√SD

• Table A is used to find the p value.

 Practice

No. Control group Treatment group

1 110 78
2 70 64
3 53 75
4 51 45
5 - 82
 Kruskal Wallis test

• It is a rank-based, non-parametric test that can be used to

determine if there is a statistically significant difference
between more than two groups of independent variables.

• It is considered the non-parametric alternative to One-

way ANOVA.
 Assumptions

• Dependent variable should be measured at ordinal or

continuous variable.

• Independent variable should consist of two or more

categorical, independent groups.

• There should be an independence of observations.

Formula
 Small Sample (n< or =5)
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3
.994 .795 .940
.872 .884 .979
.349 .816 .949
.981 .890
.978

Rank 1 Rank 2 Rank 3

12 2 7
4 5 10
1 3 8
11 6
9
Rj 17 21 40
Ṝj 5.67 5.25 8
• Check for p value in Table O.

• If the calculated value of KW is = or > than the tabled value at the chosen
significance level, then H0 may be rejected.

• Our calculated value of KW (1.51) is less than the tabled value (5.63) at .05
level of significance which indicates that there is no significant difference
between group 1, 2 and 3.

• Therefore, the null hypothesis is accepted against alternate hypothesis.

 Large Sample (n>5)

• df = k - 1

• Table C is used to find the p value.

 Practice

Group 1 Group 2 Group 3

7 4 10
6 1 5
8 3 2
7 7 3
5 9 4
 Friedman test

• used to compare three or more matched groups when the

dependent variable is at least ordinal.

• preferred in a situation where same factor has been

measured under different conditions on the same subject.

• It is considered the non-parametric alternative to

Repeated measures ANOVA or Two-way ANOVA.
Formula
 Small Sample (n<5)
Conditions
Groups I II III IV
A 9 4 1 7
B 6 5 2 8
C 9 1 2 6

Conditions
Groups I II III IV
A 4 2 1 3
B 3 2 1 4
C 4 1 2 3
Rj 11 5 4 10
• Check for p value in Table O.
• Check for p value in Table M.

• If the calculated value of Fr is = or > than the tabled value at the chosen
significance level, then H0 may be rejected in favor of H1.

• Our calculated value of Fr (7.4) is equal to the tabled value (7.40) at .05 level
of significance which indicates that there a significant difference between
the 3 sample groups drawn from the same population.

• Therefore, the null hypothesis is rejected in favor of alternate hypothesis.

 Large Sample (n>5)

• df = k - 1

• Table C is used to find the p value.

 Practice

Conditions
Groups I II III
A 5 9 7
B 9 1 3
C 6 4 5
D 7 8 10
E 8 6 5