Skip to main content
Statistics LibreTexts

10: Hypothesis Testing with Two Samples

  • Page ID
  • You have learned to conduct hypothesis tests on single means and single proportions. You will expand upon that in this chapter. You will compare two means or two proportions to each other. The general procedure is still the same, just expanded. To compare two means or two proportions, you work with two groups. The groups are classified either as independent or matched pairs. Independent groups consist of two samples that are independent, that is, sample values selected from one population are not related in any way to sample values selected from the other population. Matched pairs consist of two samples that are dependent. The parameter tested using matched pairs is the population mean. The parameters tested using independent groups are either population means or population proportions.

    • 10.1: Prelude to Hypothesis Testing with Two Samples
      This chapter deals with the following hypothesis tests: Independent groups (samples are independent) Test of two population means. Test of two population proportions. Matched or paired samples (samples are dependent) Test of the two population proportions by testing one population mean of differences.
    • 10.2: Two Population Means with Unknown Standard Deviations
      The comparison of two population means is very common. A difference between the two samples depends on both the means and the standard deviations. Very different means can occur by chance if there is great variation among the individual samples.
    • 10.3: Two Population Means with Known Standard Deviations
      Even though this situation is not likely (knowing the population standard deviations is not likely), the following example illustrates hypothesis testing for independent means, known population standard deviations.
    • 10.4: Comparing Two Independent Population Proportions
      Comparing two proportions, like comparing two means, is common. If two estimated proportions are different, it may be due to a difference in the populations or it may be due to chance. A hypothesis test can help determine if a difference in the estimated proportions reflects a difference in the population proportions.
    • 10.5: Matched or Paired Samples
      When using a hypothesis test for matched or paired samples, the following characteristics should be present: Simple random sampling is used. Sample sizes are often small. Two measurements (samples) are drawn from the same pair of individuals or objects. Differences are calculated from the matched or paired samples. The differences form the sample that is used for the hypothesis test. Either the matched pairs have differences that come from a population that is normal or the number of difference
    • 10.6: Hypothesis Testing for Two Means and Two Proportions (Worksheet)
      A statistics Worksheet: The student will select the appropriate distributions to use in each case. The student will conduct hypothesis tests and interpret the results.
    • 10.E: Hypothesis Testing with Two Samples (Exercises)
      These are homework exercises to accompany the Textmap created for "Introductory Statistics" by OpenStax.

    Contributors and Attributions


    • Was this article helpful?