L 11, One Sample Test
L 11, One Sample Test
Single Sample t Test
Test variable
In a One Sample t Test, the test variable's mean is compared against a "test value",
which is a known or hypothesized value of the mean in the population. Test values may
come from a literature review, a trusted research organization, legal requirements, or
industry standards. For example:
A particular factory's machines are supposed to fill bottles with 150 milliliters of
product. A plant manager wants to test a random sample of bottles to ensure that
the machines are not under- or over-filling the bottles.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets clearance levels
for the amount of lead present in homes: no more than 10 micrograms per square
foot on floors and no more than 100 micrograms per square foot on window sills
(as of December 2020). An inspector wants to test if samples taken from units in
an apartment building exceed the clearance level.
Common Uses
Note: The One Sample t Test can only compare a single sample mean to a specified
constant. It can not compare sample means between two or more groups. If you wish to
compare the means of multiple groups to each other, you will likely want to run an
Independent Samples t Test (to compare the means of two groups) or a One-Way
ANOVA (to compare the means of two or more groups).
Data Requirements
Hypotheses
The null hypothesis (H0) and (two-tailed) alternative hypothesis (H1) of the one
sample T test can be expressed as:
H0: µ = µ0 ("the population mean is equal to the [proposed] population mean")
H1: µ ≠ µ0 ("the population mean is not equal to the [proposed] population mean")
where µ is the "true" population mean and µ 0 is the proposed value of the population
mean.
Test Statistic
The test statistic for a One Sample t Test is denoted t, which is calculated using the
following formula:
μ0 = The test value -- the proposed constant for the population mean
x¯ = Sample mean
n = Sample size (i.e., number of observations)
s = Sample standard deviation
sx¯ = Estimated standard error of the mean (s/sqrt(n))
Data Set-Up
Your data should include one continuous, numeric variable (represented in a column)
that will be used in the analysis. The variable's measurement level should be defined as
Scale in the Variable View window.
The One-Sample T Test window opens where you will specify the variables to be used in
the analysis. All of the variables in your dataset appear in the list on the left side. Move
variables to the Test Variable(s) area by selecting them in the list and clicking the
arrow button.
population mean (i.e., Test Value). You may run multiple One Sample t Tests
simultaneously by selecting more than one test variable. Each variable will be compared
to the same Test Value.
B Test Value: The hypothesized population mean against which your test variable(s)
will be compared.
namely, Cohen's d -- for the test(s). (Note: Effect sizes calculations for t tests were first
added to SPSS Statistics in version 27, making them a relatively recent addition. If you
do not see this option when you use SPSS, check what version of SPSS you're using.)
Example
PROBLEM STATEMENT
According to the CDC, the mean height of U.S. adults ages 20 and older is about 66.5
inches (69.3 inches for males, 63.8 inches for females).
In our sample data, we have a sample of 435 college students from a single college. Let's
test if the mean height of students at this college is significantly different than 66.5
inches using a one-sample t test. The null and alternative hypotheses of this test will be:
In the sample data, we will use the variable Height, which a continuous variable
representing each respondent’s height in inches. The heights exhibit a range of values
from 55.00 to 88.41 (Analyze > Descriptive Statistics > Descriptives).
Let's create a histogram of the data to get an idea of the distribution, and to see if our
hypothesized mean is near our sample mean. Click Graphs > Legacy Dialogs >
Histogram. Move variable Height to the Variable box, then click OK.
To add vertical reference lines at the mean (or another location), double-click on the
plot to open the Chart Editor, then click Options > X Axis Reference Line. In
the Properties window, you can enter a specific location on the x-axis for the vertical
line, or you can choose to have the reference line at the mean or median of the sample
data (using the sample data). Click Apply to make sure your new line is added to the
chart. Here, we have added two reference lines: one at the sample mean (the solid black
line), and the other at 66.5 (the dashed red line).
From the histogram, we can see that height is relatively symmetrically distributed about
the mean, though there is a slightly longer right tail. The reference lines indicate that
sample mean is slightly greater than the hypothesized mean, but not by a huge amount.
It's possible that our test result could come back significant.
Syntax
T-TEST
/TESTVAL=66.5
/MISSING=ANALYSIS
/VARIABLES=Height
/ES DISPLAY(TRUE)
/CRITERIA=CI(.95).
If you are using SPSS Statistics 26 or earlier:
T-TEST
/TESTVAL=66.5
/MISSING=ANALYSIS
/VARIABLES=Height
/CRITERIA=CI(.95).
OUTPUT
Tables
The second section, One-Sample Test, displays the results most relevant to the One
Sample t Test.
A Test Value: The number we entered as the test value in the One-Sample T Test
window.
B t Statistic: The test statistic of the one-sample t test, denoted t. In this example, t =
5.810. Note that t is calculated by dividing the mean difference (E) by the standard error
mean (from the One-Sample Statistics box).
C df: The degrees of freedom for the test. For a one-sample t test, df = n - 1; so here, df
= 408 - 1 = 407.
of the possible one-sided alternative hypotheses (in this case, µ Height > 66.5) and two-sided
alternative hypothesis (µHeight ≠ 66.5), respectively. In our problem statement above, we
were only interested in the two-sided alternative hypothesis.
E Mean Difference: The difference between the "observed" sample mean (from the
One Sample Statistics box) and the "expected" mean (the specified test value (A)). The
sign of the mean difference corresponds to the sign of the t value (B). The
positive t value in this example indicates that the mean height of the sample is greater
than the hypothesized value (66.5).
F Confidence Interval for the Difference: The confidence interval for the
difference between the specified test value and the sample mean.
Recall that our hypothesized population value was 66.5 inches, the [approximate]
average height of the overall adult population in the U.S. Since p < 0.001, we reject the
null hypothesis that the mean height of students at this college is equal to the
hypothesized population mean of 66.5 inches and conclude that the mean height is
significantly different than 66.5 inches.
There is a significant difference in the mean height of the students at this college
and the overall adult population in the U.S. (p < .001).
The average height of students at this college is about 1.5 inches taller than the
U.S. adult population average (95% CI [1.013, 2.050]).