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The Paired t-test and Hypothesis Testing

John McGready Johns Hopkins University

Lecture Topics
Comparing two groupsthe paired data situation Hypothesis testingthe null and alternative hypotheses p-valuesdefinition, calculations, and more information

Section A
The Paired t-Test and Hypothesis Testing

Comparison of Two Groups

Are the population means different? (continuous data)

Comparison of Two Groups

Two Situations 1.Paired Design

Before-after data Twin data Matched case-control

Comparison of Two Groups

Two Situations 2. Two Independent Sample Designs

Paired Design
Before vs. After Why pairing?

Control extraneous noise Each observation acts as a control

Example: Blood Pressure and Oral Contraceptive Use

Example: Blood Pressure and Oral Contraceptive Use

Example: Blood Pressure and Oral Contraceptive Use

Example: Blood Pressure and Oral Contraceptive Use

Example: Blood Pressure and Oral Contraceptive Use

Example: Blood Pressure and Oral Contraceptive Use

The sample average of the differences is 4.8 The sample standard deviation (s) of the differences is s = 4.6

Example: Blood Pressure and Oral Contraceptive Use

Standard deviation of differences found by using the formula:

Where each Xirepresents an individual difference, and X is the mean difference

Example: Blood Pressure and Oral Contraceptive Use

Notice, we can get

by

(120.4-115.6=4.8) However, we need to compute the individual differences first, to get

Note

In essence, what we have done is reduced the BP information on two samples (women prior to OC use, women after OC use) into one piece of information: information on the differences in BP between the samples This is standard protocol for comparing paired samples with a continuous outcome measure

95% Confidence Interval

95% confidence interval for mean change in BP SEM

Where SEM =

95% Confidence Interval

95% confidence interval for mean change in BP

95% Confidence Interval

95% confidence interval for mean change in BP

Notes

The number 0 is NOTin confidence interval (1.538.07)

Notes

The number 0 is NOTin confidence interval (1.538.07) Because 0 is not in the interval, this suggests there is a non-zero change in BP over time

Notes

The BP change could be due to factors other than oral contraceptives A control group of comparable women who were not taking oral contraceptives would strengthen this study

Hypothesis Testing

Want to draw a conclusion about a population parameter In a population of women who use oral contraceptives, is the average (expected) change in blood pressure (after-before) 0 or not?

Hypothesis Testing
Sometimes statisticians use the term expectedfor the population average is the expected (population) mean change in blood pressure

Hypothesis Testing
Null hypothesis: Alternative hypothesis:

We reject H0if the sample mean is far away from 0:

The Null Hypothesis, H0

Typically represents the hypothesis that there is no associationor no difference It represents current state of knowledge (i.e., no conclusive research exists) For example, there is no association between oral contraceptive use and blood pressure

The Alternative Hypothesis HA (or H1)

Typically represents what you are trying to prove For example, there is an association between blood pressure and oral contraceptive use

Hypothesis Testing

We are testing both hypotheses at the same time Our result will allow us to either reject H0or fail to reject H0

Hypothesis Testing
We start by assuming the null (H0) is true, and asking . . . How likely is the result we got from our sample?

Hypothesis Testing Question

Do our sample results allow us to reject H0 in favor of HA? would have to be far from zero to claim HA is true But is = 4.8 big enough to claim HA is true?

Hypothesis Testing Question

Do our sample results allow us to reject H0 in favor of HA? Maybe we got a big sample mean of 4.8 from a chance occurrence Maybe H0 is true, and we just got an unusual sample

Hypothesis Testing Question

Do our sample results allow us to reject H0 in favor of HA? We need some measure of how probable the result from our sample is, if the null hypothesis is true

Hypothesis Testing Question

Do our sample results allow us to reject H0 in favor of HA? What is the probability of having gotten such an extreme sample mean as 4.8 if the null hypothesis (H0: = 0) was true? (This probability is called the p-value)

Hypothesis Testing Question

Do our sample results allow us to reject H0 in favor of HA? If that probability (p-value) is small, it suggests the observed result cannot be easily explained by chance

The p-value

So what can we turn to evaluate how unusual our sample statistic is when the null is true?

The p-value

We need a mechanism that will explain the behavior of the sample mean across many different random samples of 10 women, when the truth is that oral contraceptives do not affect blood pressure Luckily, weve already defined this mechanismits the sampling distribution!

Sampling Distribution

Sampling distribution of the sample mean is

the distribution of all possible values of from samples of same size, n

Sampling Distribution
Recall, the sampling distribution is centered at the truth,the underlying value of the population mean, In hypothesis testing, we start under the assumption that H0 is trueso the sampling distribution under this assumption will be centered at 0, the null mean

Blood Pressure-OC Example

Sampling distribution is the distribution of all possible values of from random samples of 10 women each

Getting a p-value
To compute a p-value, we need to find our value of , and figure out how unusual it is

Getting a p-value
In other words, we will use our knowledge about the sampling distribution of to figure out what proportion of samples from our population would have sample mean values as far away from 0 or farther, than our sample mean of 4.8

Section A
Practice Problems

Practice Problems
1. Which of the following examples involve the comparison of paired data? If so, on what are we pairing the data?

Practice Problems
a. In Baltimore, a real estate practice known as flipping has elicited concern from local/federal government officials Flipping occurs when a real estate investor buys a property for a low price, makes little or no improvement to the property, and then resells it quickly at a higher price

Practice Problems
a. This practice has raised concern, because the properties involved in flipping are generally in disrepair, and the victims are generally low-income Fair housing advocates are launching a lawsuit against three real estate corporations accused of this practice

Practice Problems
a. As part of the suit, these advocates have collected data on all houses (purchased by these three corporations) which were sold in less than one year after they were purchased Data were collected on the purchase price and the resale price for each of these properties

Practice Problems
a. The data were collected to show that the resale prices were, on average, higher than the initial purchase price A confidence interval was constructed for the average profit in these quick turnover sales

Practice Problems
b. Researchers are testing a new blood pressure-reducing drug; participants in this study are randomized to either a drug group or a placebo group Baseline blood pressure measurements are taken on both groups and another measurement is taken three months after the administration of the drug/placebo

Practice Problems
b. Researchers are curious as to whether the drug is more effective in lowering blood pressure than the placebo

Practice Problems
2. Give a one sentence description of what the p-value represents in hypothesis testing

Section A
Practice Problem Solutions

Solutions
1(a).The flipping example In this example, researchers were comparing the difference in resale price and initial purchase price for each property in the sample This data is paired and the pairing unit is each property

Solutions
1(b). Miracle blood pressure treatment Researchers used before and after blood pressure measurements to calculate individual, person-level differences

Solutions
1(b). Miracle blood pressure treatment To evaluate whether the drug is effective in lowering blood pressure, the researchers will want to test whether the mean differences are the same amongst those on treatment and those on placebo So the comparison will be made between two different groups of individuals

Solutions
2. The p-value is the probability of seeing a result as extreme or more extreme than the result from a given sample, if the null hypothesis is true

Section B
The p-value in Detail

Blood Pressure and Oral Contraceptive Use

Recall the results of the example on BP/OC use from the previous lecture Sample included 10 women Sample Mean Blood Pressure Change4.8 mmHg (sample SD, 4.6 mmHg)

How Are p-values Calculated?

What is the probability of having gotten a sample mean as extreme or more extreme then 4.8 if the null hypothesis was true (H0: = 0)? The answer is called the p-value In the blood pressure example, p = .0089

How Are p-values Calculated?

We need to figure out how far our result, 4.8, is from 0, in standard statistical units In other words, we need to figure out how many standard errors 4.8 is away from 0

How Are p-values Calculated?

The value t = 3.31 is called the test statistic

How Are p-values Calculated?

We observed a sample mean that was 3.31 standard errors of the mean (SEM) away from what we would have expected the mean to be if OC use was not associated with blood pressure

How Are p-values Calculated?

Is a result 3.31 standard errors above its mean unusual? It depends on what kind of distribution we are dealing with

How Are p-values Calculated?

The p-value is the probability of getting a test statistic as (or more) extreme than what you observed (3.31) by chance if H0 was true The p-value comes from the sampling distribution of the sample mean

Sampling Distribution of the Sample Mean

Recall what we know about the sampling distribution of the sample mean, If our sample is large (n > 60), then the sampling distribution is approximately normal

Sampling Distribution of the Sample Mean

Recall what we know about the sampling distribution of the sample mean, With smaller samples, the sampling distribution is a t-distribution with n-1 degrees of freedom

Blood Pressure and Oral Contraceptive Use

So in the BP/OC example, we have a sample of size 10, and hence a sampling distribution that is t-distribution with 10 -1 = 9 degrees of freedom

Blood Pressure and Oral Contraceptive Use

To compute a p-value, we would need to compute the probability of being 3.31 or more standard errors away from 0 on a t9 curve

How Are p-Values Calculated?

We could look this up in a t-table . . . Better optionlet Stata do the work for us!

How to Use STATA to Perform a Paired t-test

At the command line: ttesti n X s 0 For the BP-OC data: ttesti 10 4.8 4.6 0

Stata Output

Interpreting Stata Output

Interpreting Stata Output

Note: !=is computer speak for not equal

Interpreting the p-value

The p-value in the blood pressure/OC example is .0089 InterpretationIf the true before OC/after OC blood pressure difference is 0 amongst all women taking OCs, then the chance of seeing a mean difference as extreme/more extreme as 4.8 in a sample of 10 women is .0089

Using the p-value to Make a Decision

Recall, we specified two competing hypotheses about the underlying, true mean blood pressure change,

Using the p-value to Make a Decision

We now need to use the p-value to choose a course of action . . . either reject H0, or fail to reject H0 We need to decide if our sample result is unlikely enough to have occurred by chance if the null was trueour measure of this unlikeliness is p = 0.0089

Using the p-value to Make a Decision

Establishing a cutoff In general, to make a decision about what p-value constitute unusual results, there needs to be a cutoff, such that all p-values less than the cutoff result in rejection of the null

Using the p-value to Make a Decision

Establishing a cutoff Standard cutoff is .05this is an arbitrary value Cut off is called -level of the test

Using the p-value to Make a Decision

Establishing a cutoff Frequently, the result of a hypothesis test with a p-value less than .05 (or some other arbitrary cutoff) is called statistically significant At the .05 level, we have a statistically significant blood pressure difference in the BP/OC example

Oral Contraceptive Example

Blood Pressure

Statistical method The changes in blood pressures after oral contraceptive use were calculated for 10 women A paired t-test was used to determine if there was a statistically significant change in blood pressure and a 95% confidence was calculated for the mean blood pressure change (after-before)

Oral Contraceptive Example

Blood Pressure

Result Blood pressure measurements increased on average 4.8 mm Hg with standard deviation 4.6 mmHg The 95% confidence interval for the mean change was 1.5 mmHg -8.1 mmHg

Oral Contraceptive Example

Blood Pressure

Result The blood pressure measurements after oral contraceptive use were statistically significantly higher than before oral contraceptive use (p=.009)

Oral Contraceptive Example

Blood Pressure

Discussion A limitation of this study is that there was no comparison group of women who did not use oral contraceptives We do not know if blood pressures may have risen without oral contraceptive usage

Summary: Paired t-test

The paired t-test is a useful statistical tool for comparing mean differences between two populations which have some sort of connection or link

Summary: Paired t-test

Example one The blood pressure/OC example Example two Study comparing blood cholesterol levels between two sets of fraternal twinsone twin in each pair given six weeks of diet counseling

Summary: Paired t-test

Example three Matched case control scenario Suppose we wish to compare levels of a certain biomarker in patients with a given disease versus those without

Summary: Paired t-test

Designate null and alternative hypotheses Collect data

Summary: Paired t-test

Compute difference in outcome for each paired set of observations Compute , sample mean of the paired differences Compute s, sample standard deviation of the differences

Summary: Paired t-test

Compute test statistic

Usually, just:

Summary: Paired t-test

Compare test statistic to appropriate distribution to get p-value

Section B
Practice Problems

Practice Problems
Eight counties were selected from State A Each of these counties was matched with a county from State B, based on factors, e.g., Mean income Percentage of residents living below the poverty level Violent crime rate Infant mortality rate (IMR) in 1996

Practice Problems
Information on the infant mortality rate in 1997 was collected on each set of eight counties IMR is measured in deaths per 10,000 live births A pre-and post-neonatal care program was implemented in State B at the beginning of 1997

Practice Problems

This data is being used to compare the IMR rates in States A and B in 1997 This comparison will be used as part of the evaluation of the neonatal care program in State B, regarding its effectiveness on reducing infant mortality

Practice Problems
The data is as follows:

Practice Problems
1. What is the appropriate method for testing whether the mean IMR is the same for both states in 1997? 2. State your null and alternative hypotheses 3. Perform this test by hand 4. Confirm your results in Stata

Practice Problems
5. What would your results be if you had 32 county pairs and the mean change and standard deviation of the changes were the same?

Section B
Practice Problem Solutions

Solutions

What is the appropriate test for testing whether the mean IMR is the same for both states? Because the data is paired, and we are

comparing two groups, we should use the paired t-test

Solutions
2. State your null and alternative hypotheses Three possible ways of expressing the

hypotheses . . .

Solutions
2. State your null and alternative hypotheses Three possible ways of expressing the

hypotheses . . .

Solutions
2. State your null and alternative hypotheses Three possible ways of expressing the

hypotheses . . .

Solutions
2. State your null and alternative hypotheses Three possible ways of expressing the

hypotheses . . .

Solutions

Perform this test by hand Remember, in order to do the paired

test, we must first calculate the difference in IMR with in each pair I will take the difference to be IMRB IMRA

Solutions
3. Perform this test by hand Once the differences are calculated,

you need to calculate

and

= 6.13 (deaths per 10,000 live births) = 14.5 (deaths per 10,000 live births)

Solutions
3. Perform this test by hand To calculate our test statistic . . .

Solutions
3. Perform this test by hand We need to compare our test-statistic to

a t-distribution with 81=7 degrees of freedom. Consulting our table, we see we must be at least 2.3 standard errors from the mean (below or above) for the p-value to be .05 or less We are 1.2 SEs below; therefore, our pvalue will be larger than .05

Solutions
3. Perform this test by hand Since p > .05, we would fail to conclude

there was a difference in mean IMR for State A and State B This is as specific as we can get about the p-value from our t-table

Solutions
4. Confirm your results in Stata

Solutions
4. Confirm your results in Stata

Solutions
4. Confirm your results in Stata

Solutions
5. What would your results be if you had 32 county pairs and the mean change and standard deviation of the changes were the same?

Solutions

Section C
The p-value in Even More Detail!

p-values
p-values are probabilities (numbers between 0 and 1) Small p-values mean that the sample results are unlikely when the null is true The p-value is the probability of obtaining a result as/or more extreme than you did by chance alone assuming the null hypothesis H0 is true

p-values
The p-value is NOT the probability that the null hypothesis is true! The p-value alone imparts no information about scientific/substantive content in result of a study

p-values

If the p-value is small either a very rare event occurred and

Two Types of Errors in Hypothesis Testing

Type I error Claim HA is true when in fact H0 is true Type II error Do not claim HA is true when in fact HA is true

Two Types of Errors in Hypothesis Testing

The probability of making a Type I error is called the -level The probability of NOT making a Type II error is called the power (we will discuss this later)

Two Types of Errors in Hypothesis Testing

Two Types of Errors in Hypothesis Testing

Two Types of Errors in Hypothesis Testing

Two Types of Errors in Hypothesis Testing

Two Types of Errors in Hypothesis Testing

Two Types of Errors in Hypothesis Testing

Two Types of Errors in Hypothesis Testing

Note on the p-value and the -level

If the p-value is less then some predetermined cutoff (e.g. .05), the result is called statistically significant This cutoff is the -level The -level is the probability of a type I error It is the probability of falsely rejecting H0

Notes on Reporting p-value

Incomplete Options The result is statistically significant The result is statistically significant at = .05 The result is statistically significant (p < .05)

Note of the p-value and the -level

Best to give p-value and interpret The result is significant (p = .009)

More on the p-value

The One-Sided Vs Two-Sided Controversy Two-sided p-value (p = .009) Probability of a result as or more extreme than observed (either positive or negative)

More on the p-value

One-sided p-value (p = .0045) Probability of a more extreme positive result than observed

More on the p-value

You never know what direction the study results will go In this course, we will use two-sided pvalues exclusively The appropriate one sided p-value will be lower than its two-sided counterpart

Stata Output

Two-sided p-value in Stata

Always from middle hypothesis

Connection Between Hypothesis Testing and Confidence Interval

The confidence interval gives plausible values for the population parameter

95% Confidence Interval

If 0 is not in the 95% CI, then we would reject H0 that = 0 at level = .05 (the p-value < .05)

95% Confidence Interval

So, in this example, the 95% confidence interval tells us that the p-value is less than .05, but it doesnt tell us that it is p= .009

95% Confidence Interval

The confidence interval and the p-value are complementary However, you cant get the exact p-value from just looking at a confidence interval, and you cant get a sense of the scientific/substantive significance of your study results by looking at a p-value

More on the p-value

Statistical Significance Does Not Imply Causation Blood pressure example There could be other factors that could explain the change in blood pressure

Blood Pressure Example

A significant p-value is only ruling out random sampling (chance) as the explanation

Blood Pressure Example

Need a comparison group Self-selected (may be okay) Randomized (better)

More on the p-value

Statistical significance is not the same as scientific significance

More on the p-value

Example: Blood Pressure and Oral Contraceptives n = 100,000; = .03 mmHg; s= 4.57 p-value = .04

More on the p-value

Big n can sometimes produce a small p-value even though the magnitude of the effect is very small (not scientifically/substantively significant)

More on the p-value

Very Important Always report a confidence interval 95% CI: 0.002 -0.058 mmHg

The Language of Hypothesis (Significance Testing)

Suppose p-value is .40 How might this result be described? Not statistically significant (p = .40) Do not reject H0

The Language of Hypothesis (Significance Testing)

Can we also say? Accept H0 Claim H0 is true Statisticians much prefer the double negative Do not reject H0

More on the p-value

Not rejecting H0 is not the same as accepting H0

More on the p-value

Example: Blood Pressure and Oral Contraceptives (sample of five women) n = 5; X = 5.0; s = 4.57 p-value = .07 We cannot reject H0at significance level = .05

More on the p-value

But are we really convinced there is no association between oral contraceptives on blood pressure? Maybe we should have taken a bigger sample?

More on the p-value

There is an interesting trend, but we havent proven it beyond a reasonable doubt Look at the confidence interval 95% CI (-.67, 10.7)

Section C
Practice Problems

Practice Problems
1. Why do you think there is such a controversy regarding one-sided versus two-sided p-values? 2. Why can a small mean difference in a paired t-test produce a small p-value if n is large?

Practice Problems
3. If you knew that the 90% CI for the mean blood pressure difference in the oral contraceptives example did NOT include 0, what could you say about the p-value for testing . . .

Practice Problems
4. What if the 99% CI for mean difference did NOT include 0? What could you say about the p-value?

Section C
Practice Problem Solutions

Solutions
1. Why do you think there is such a controversy regarding one-sided versus two-sided p-values?

If the appropriate one-sided hypothesis test is done (the one that best supports the sample data), the p-value will be half the p-value of the two sided test

Solutions
1. Why do you think there is such a controversy regarding one-sided versus two-sided p-values?

This allows for situations where the two sided p-value is not statistically significant, but the one-sided p-value is

Solutions
2. Why can a small mean difference in a paired t-test produce a small p-value if n is large?

When n gets large (big sample), the SEM gets very small. When SEM gets small, t gets large

Solutions
3. If you knew that the 90% CI for the mean blood pressure difference in the oral contraceptives example did not include 0, what could you say about the p-value for testing:

The p-value is less than .10 (p < .10).This is as as specific as we can be with the given information.

Solutions

What if the 99% CI for mean difference did not include 0? What could you say about the p-value?

The p-value is less than .01 (p < .01)