Yes, a t test may be enough. Students should also learn that results obvious on their face need no stat analy at all -- don't gild the lily.
On 22 Mar 2002, Brad Anderson wrote: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] (nothanks) wrote in message >news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>... > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Penley, Julie) wrote in message >news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>... > > > > Mercy, I hope y'all aren't aiming this at the original poster. > > Anyways, maybe part of the "problem" is that some fields think > > they do need "fancy" statistics and models (you know. > > "I NEED P-VALUES, GIMME P-VALUES", etc.) when, IMO, simple > > summaries will suffice. > > [snip] > > I recall serving as an external member on a Ph.D. committee. The > student had a pretty well designed randomized experiment with only 2 > comparison groups. The response variable was continuous and > approximately normally distributed. When the student proposed using a > t-test to compare means, one of the committee members said something > to the effect of: "This is a Ph.D. dissertation, you can't use a > t-test. You have to use something more sophisticated like ANOVA." > Ouch. I cringed, bit my tongue, and tactifully defened the student's > proposed method of analysis. A perceived need for statistical > sophistication and lengthy results sections shouldn't drive research > questions. Some important research questions can be correctly > addressed using very simple methods of analysis. To refer back to the > original question, if a 2 x 3 ANOVA is the appropriate analytical > procedure, then it's the correct procedure. I do agree with those who > suggested presenting results exploring the distributional properties > of the response variable. The student could certainly present results > of diagnostic statistics defending the choice of statistic. Depending > on the nature of the research question, the student might test for > interaction, test for simple main effects, and use appropriate > procedures for multiple comparisons. > . > . > ================================================================= > Instructions for joining and leaving this list, remarks about the > problem of INAPPROPRIATE MESSAGES, and archives are available at: > . http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ . > ================================================================= > . . ================================================================= Instructions for joining and leaving this list, remarks about the problem of INAPPROPRIATE MESSAGES, and archives are available at: . http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ . =================================================================
