Mann Whitney U Test

(Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test)

By: Erwin A. Seraño
 Mann Whitney U Test
The Mann-Whitney U test, also known as
the Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test, is a non-
parametric statistical test used to compare
two independent groups when the
dependent variable is ordinal or continuous
but not normally distributed. It is commonly
used to determine if there is a statistically
significant difference between the medians
of two groups.
* Statistical Assumptions underlying this test:

*The data are based on an ordinal scale of measurement

* The observations were drawn or selected independently of one

another.

* There are no "ties" (i.e., same values with different ranks) between
rankings (ties do occur, however, and a quick procedure for dealing with
them is presented in Data Box 14.D When the majority of ranks in a
data set are tied, however, consult statistical works like Hays (1988) or
Kirk (1990) for guidance.
In contrast, the null and two-sided research hypotheses for
the nonparametric test are stated as follows:

H0: The two populations are equal versus

H1: The two populations are not equal.

This test is often performed as a two-sided test and, thus, the

research hypothesis indicates that the populations are not
equal as opposed to specifying directionality. A one-sided
research hypothesis is used if interest lies in detecting a
positive or negative shift in one population as compared to
the other. The procedure for the test involves pooling the
observations from the two samples into one combined
sample, keeping track of which sample each observation
comes from, and then ranking lowest to highest from 1 to
n1+n2, respectively.
 Example
Here's a step-by-step example of how to conduct a Mann-Whitney U test:
Step 1: State the Hypotheses

- Null Hypothesis (H0): There is no significant difference between the distributions of the
two groups.

- Alternative Hypothesis (H1): There is a significant difference between the distributions of

the two groups.

Step 2: Collect Data

- Let's imagine we have two groups: Group A and Group B.
- Each group contains data on the test scores of students:
- Group A: 75, 80, 65, 70, 85
- Group B: 60, 55, 70, 75, 50
Step 3: Rank the Data
- Combine the data from both groups and rank them from lowest to
highest regardless of group.
- Assign ranks to each value. Tied values receive an average rank.
- Combined ranked data: 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 70, 75, 75, 80, 85

Step 4: Calculate U Statistic

- Calculate the U statistic for each group using the formula:
- For Group A: U1 = N1 * N2 + N1 * (N1 + 1) / 2 - R1
- For Group B: U2 = N1 * N2 + N2 * (N2 + 1) / 2 - R2
- Where N1 is the sample size of Group A, N2 is the sample size of Group
B, and R1 and R2 are the sum of ranks of Group A and Group B,
respectively.
Step 5: Determine Critical Value
- Determine the critical value of U using a Mann-Whitney U table or
a statistical software based on your significance level (usually α =
0.05).

Step 6: Compare U Statistic with Critical Value**

- If the calculated U statistic falls below the critical value in the table,
reject the null hypothesis.
- Otherwise, if the calculated U statistic is greater than or equal to
the critical value, fail to reject the null hypothesis.
In our example, you would calculate the U statistics for
Group A and Group B and compare them to the critical
value to determine if there is a significant difference
between the two groups in terms of test scores.
Thank you