The t-test: An Influential Inferential Tool in Chaplaincy and Other Healthcare Research

The t-test developed by William S. Gosset (also known as Student’s t-test and the two-sample t-test) is commonly used to compare one sample mean on a measure with another sample mean on the same measure. The outcome of the t-test is used to draw inferences about how different the samples are from each other. It is probably one of the most frequently relied upon statistics in inferential research. It is easy to use: a researcher can calculate the statistic with three simple tools: paper, pen, and a calculator. A computer program can quickly calculate the t-test for large samples. The ease of use can result in the misuse of the t-test. This article discusses the development of the original t-test, basic principles of the t-test, two additional types of t-tests (the one-sample t-test and the paired t-test), and recommendations about what to consider when using the t-test to draw inferences in research.

[1]  Brown Cm,et al.  Health benefits achieved through the Seventh-Day Adventist Wellness Challenge program. , 2000, Alternative therapies in health and medicine.

[2]  M. Bookbinder,et al.  Improving end-of-life care: development and pilot-test of a clinical pathway. , 2005, Journal of pain and symptom management.

[3]  M. Pittler.  Basic Statistics and Epidemiology: A Practical Guide , 2010 .

[4]  K. Flannelly,et al.  Measures of Central Tendency in Chaplaincy, Health Care, and Related Research , 2015, Journal of health care chaplaincy.

[5]  Micha De Winter.  Basic Statistics and Epidemiology: A Practical Guide , 1996 .

[6]  K. Flannelly,et al.  Fundamentals of Measurement in Health Care Research , 2014, Journal of health care chaplaincy.

[7]  Christophe Combescure,et al.  Normality and Sample Size Do Not Matter for the Selection of an Appropriate Statistical Test for Two-Group Comparisons , 2016 .

[8]  Joan Fisher Box,et al.  Guinness, Gosset, Fisher, and Small Samples , 1987 .

[9]  Z. Anusz.  [Statistics in epidemiology]. , 1974, Pielegniarka i polozna.

[10]  Rachel A. Gordon,et al.  Applied Statistics for the Social and Health Sciences , 2012 .

[11]  K. Flannelly,et al.  Independent, Dependent, and Other Variables in Healthcare and Chaplaincy Research , 2014, Journal of health care chaplaincy.

[12]  P. Boland.  A Biographical Glimpse of William Sealy Gosset , 1984 .

[13]  M. Berg,et al.  Change in perceived health and functioning over time in patients with type I diabetes mellitus , 2005, Quality of Life Research.

[14]  K. Flannelly,et al.  Measures of Variability in Chaplaincy, Health Care, and Related Research , 2015, Journal of health care chaplaincy.

[15]  Lawrence J. Strieker.  Understanding Statistics in the Behavioral Sciences (3rd ed.). , 1991 .

[16]  Jacob Cohen.  Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences , 1969, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Research Design.

[17]  P. Ferroli,et al.  Change in quality of life, disability, and well-being after decompressive surgery: results from a longitudinal study , 2015, International journal of rehabilitation research. Internationale Zeitschrift fur Rehabilitationsforschung. Revue internationale de recherches de readaptation.

[18]  Stephen B. Vardeman,et al.  Elementary Statistics (2nd Ed.). , 1983 .

[19]  P. Lachenbruch.  Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences (2nd ed.) , 1989 .

[20]  H. Pashler,et al.  Is the Replicability Crisis Overblown? Three Arguments Examined , 2012, Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

[21]  H. Pashler,et al.  Editors’ Introduction to the Special Section on Replicability in Psychological Science , 2012, Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

[22]  P. Kirshbom,et al.  Quality of Life for Historic Cavopulmonary Shunt Survivors , 2016, World journal for pediatric & congenital heart surgery.

[23]  P. Brown,et al.  Impacting quality of life for patients with advanced cancer with a structured multidisciplinary intervention: a randomized controlled trial. , 2006, Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

[24]  R. Nelesen,et al.  Development and evaluation of a palliative medicine curriculum for third-year medical students. , 2012, Journal of palliative medicine.

[25]  I. Z. Bokharey,et al.  Comparison of Spiritual Well-Being and Coping Strategies of Patients with Generalized Anxiety Disorder and with Minor General Medical Conditions , 2015, Journal of Religion and Health.

[26]  Change in Pastoral Skills, Emotional Intelligence, Self-reflection, and Social Desirability Across a Unit of CPE , 2008, Journal of health care chaplaincy.

[27]  Nava R. Silton,et al.  Complementary Alternative Medicine Practices Used by Religious Professionals , 2009, Journal of health care chaplaincy.

[28]  Student,et al.  THE PROBABLE ERROR OF A MEAN , 1908 .

[29]  R. Pagano.  Understanding Statistics in the Behavioral Sciences , 1981 .

[30]  N. Wenger,et al.  An intervention to improve respiratory therapists' comfort with end-of-life care. , 2010, Respiratory care.

[31]  S. Cantor,et al.  Grief in Healthcare Chaplains: An Investigation of the Presence of Disenfranchised Grief , 2011, Journal of health care chaplaincy.