ABSTRACT
The t test considered in this chapter involves comparing the means of two independent and unrelated samples to determine if their means differ significantly. For example, one group receives a new type of medication for pain and another group receives a placebo. Do the means between the two groups differ enough to conclude that the new drug was effective? This design is also referred to as a between-subjects design, highlighting the fact that it is the means between samples that are compared. The hypothesis testing procedure is used to make this determination. The sampling distribution of the difference between means is introduced and used as a basis for comparing obtained difference between means values. Instructions for using Excel to perform the independent samples t test are also provided.
