SampleStudentTTest Method (Sample, Sample)

public static TestResult StudentTTest(
	Sample a,
	Sample b
)

Public Shared Function StudentTTest ( 
	a As Sample,
	b As Sample
) As TestResult

public:
static TestResult^ StudentTTest(
	Sample^ a, 
	Sample^ b
)

static member StudentTTest : 
        a : Sample * 
        b : Sample -> TestResult 

Parameters

a

Type: Meta.Numerics.StatisticsSample
The first sample, which must contain at least two entries.

b

Type: Meta.Numerics.StatisticsSample
The second sample, which must contain at least two entries.

Return Value

Given two samples, a back-of-the-envelope way to determine whether their means differ in a statistically significant way is to compare their PopulationMean values. If their error bars overlap, they are probably statistically compatible; if they do not, the difference in means is probably statistically significant. Student's t-test is a way to refine this back-of-the-envelope procedure into a statistical test that can determine exactly how likely a given seperation of means is under the null hypothesis that the two samples are drawn from the same distribution.

The t-statistic is proportional to the mean of a minus the mean of b, so t > 0 indicates that a has a greater mean.

Student's t-test was one of the first statistical tests. It was described by William Sealy Gosset, a chemist who worked for the Guiness brewing company. Since Guiness was concerned that other breweries might take advantage of a technique published by one of its chemists, Gosset published his work under the pseudonym Student.

Reference

Other Resources