Combining the t test and Wilcoxon's rank-sum test

In the two-sample location-shift problem, Student's t test or Wilcoxon's rank-sum test are commonly applied. The latter test can be more powerful for non-normal data. Here, we propose to combine the two tests within a maximum test. We show that the constructed maximum test controls the type I error rate and has good power characteristics for a variety of distributions; its power is close to that of the more powerful of the two tests. Thus, irrespective of the distribution, the maximum test stabilizes the power. To carry out the maximum test is a more powerful strategy than selecting one of the single tests. The proposed test is applied to data of a clinical trial.     

A new two-sample test for choosing between log-rank and Wilcoxon tests with right-censored data

When differences of survival functions are located in early time, a Wilcoxon test is the best test, but when differences of survival functions are located in late time, using a log-rank test is better. Therefore, a researcher needs a stable test in these situations. In this paper, a new two-sample test is proposed and considered. This test is distribution-free. This test is useful for choosing between log-rank and Wilcoxon tests. Its power is roughly the maximal power of the log-rank test and Wilcoxon test.     

Data-driven smooth test for a location-scale family

A combination of a smooth test statistic and (an approximate) Schwarz's selection rule has been proposed by Inglot, T., Kallenberg, W. C. M. and Ledwina, T. ((1997). Data-driven smooth tests for composite hypotheses. Ann. Statist. 25, 1222–1250) as a solution of a standard goodness-of-fit problem when nuisance parameters are present. In the present paper we modify the above solution in the sense that we propose another analogue of Schwarz's rule and rederive properties of it and the resulting test statistic. To avoid technicalities we restrict our attention to location-scale family and method of moments estimators of its parameters. In a parallel paper [Janic-Wróblewska, A. (2004). Data-driven smooth tests for the extreme value distribution. Statistics, in press] we illustrate an application of our solution and advantages of modification when testing of fit to extreme value distribution.     

A Discussion of Permutation Tests Conditional to Observed Responses in Unreplicated 2 M Full Factorial Designs

ABSTRACT

In this article we present a new solution to test for effects in unreplicated two-level factorial designs. The proposed test statistic, in case the error components are normally distributed, follows an F random variable, though our attention is on its nonparametric permutation version. The proposed procedure does not require any transformation of data such as residualization and it is exact for each effect and distribution-free. Our main aim is to discuss a permutation solution conditional to the original vector of responses. We give two versions of the same nonparametric testing procedure in order to control both the individual error rate and the experiment-wise error rate. A power comparison with Loughin and Noble's test is provided in the case of a unreplicated 2⁴ full factorial design.     

Use of the squared ranks test to test for the equality of the coefficients of variation

A distribution-free test for the equality of the coefficients of variation from k populations is obtained by using the squared ranks test for variances, as presented by Conover and Iman (1978) and Conover (1980), on the original observations divided by their respective expected values. Substitution of the sample mean in place of the expected value results in the test being only asymptotically distribution-free. Results of a simulation study evaluating the size of the test for various coefficient of variation values and probability distributions are presented.     

An asymptotically distribution-free test of symmetry

A procedure, based on sample spacings, is proposed for testing whether a univariate distribution is symmetric about some unknown value. The proposed test is a modification of a sign test suggested by Antille and Kersting [1977. Tests for symmetry. Z. Wahrscheinlichkeitstheorie verw. Gebiete 39, 235–255], but unlike Antille and Kersting's test, our modified test is asymptotically distribution-free and is usable in practice. A simulation study indicates that the proposed test maintains the nominal level of significance, α$\alpha$ fairly accurately even for samples of size as small as 20, and a comparison with the classical test based on sample coefficient of skewness, shows that our test has good power for detecting different asymmetric distributions.     

Distribution-free comparison of hazard rates of two distributions under progressive type-II censoring

Some distribution-free tests have been discussed in the literature with regard to the comparison of hazard rates of two distributions when the available samples are complete. We generalize here Kochar's [S.C. Kochar, A new distribution-free test for the equality of two failure rates, Biometrika 68 (1981), pp. 423–426] test statistic to the case when one available sample is progressively Type-II censored, and then derive its exact null distribution and examine its power properties by means of a Monte Carlo simulation study.     

Tests for Symmetry Based on the One-Sample Wilcoxon Signed Rank Statistic

ABSTRACT

The one-sample Wilcoxon signed rank test was originally designed to test for a specified median, under the assumption that the distribution is symmetric, but it can also serve as a test for symmetry if the median is known. In this article we derive the Wilcoxon statistic as the first component of Pearson's X ² statistic for independence in a particularly constructed contingency table. The second and third components are new test statistics for symmetry. In the second part of the article, the Wilcoxon test is extended so that symmetry around the median and symmetry in the tails can be examined seperately. A trimming proportion is used to split the observations in the tails from those around the median. We further extend the method so that no arbitrary choice for the trimming proportion has to be made. Finally, the new tests are compared to other tests for symmetry in a simulation study. It is concluded that our tests often have substantially greater powers than most other tests.     

A modified one-sample test for goodness-of-fit

This paper introduces a modified one-sample test of goodness-of-fit based on the cumulative distribution function. Damico [A new one-sample test for goodness-of-fit. Commun Stat – Theory Methods. 2004;33:181–193] proposed a test for testing goodness-of-fit of univariate distribution that uses the concept of partitioning the probability range into n intervals of equal probability mass 1/n and verifies that the hypothesized distribution evaluated at the observed data would place one case into each interval. The present paper extends this notion by allowing for m intervals of probability mass r/n, where r≥1 and n=m×r. A simulation study for small and moderate sample sizes demonstrates that the proposed test for two observations per interval under various alternatives is more powerful than the test proposed by Damico (2004).     

A NEW TEST FOR EQUALITY OF VARIANCES FOR k NORMAL POPULATIONS

ABSTRACT

A simple test based on Gini's mean difference is proposed to test the hypothesis of equality of population variances. Using 2000 replicated samples and empirical distributions, we show that the test compares favourably with Bartlett's and Levene's test for the normal population. Also, it is more powerful than Bartlett's and Levene's tests for some alternative hypotheses for some non-normal distributions and more robust than the other two tests for large sample sizes under some alternative hypotheses. We also give an approximate distribution to the test statistic to enable one to calculate the nominal levels and P-values.     

Testing linear hypotheses in high-dimensional regressions

For a multivariate linear model, Wilk's likelihood ratio test (LRT) constitutes one of the cornerstone tools. However, the computation of its quantiles under the null or the alternative hypothesis requires complex analytic approximations, and more importantly, these distributional approximations are feasible only for moderate dimension of the dependent variable, say p≤20. On the other hand, assuming that the data dimension p as well as the number q of regression variables are fixed while the sample size n grows, several asymptotic approximations are proposed in the literature for Wilk's Λ including the widely used chi-square approximation. In this paper, we consider necessary modifications to Wilk's test in a high-dimensional context, specifically assuming a high data dimension p and a large sample size n. Based on recent random matrix theory, the correction we propose to Wilk's test is asymptotically Gaussian under the null hypothesis and simulations demonstrate that the corrected LRT has very satisfactory size and power, surely in the large p and large n context, but also for moderately large data dimensions such as p=30 or p=50. As a byproduct, we give a reason explaining why the standard chi-square approximation fails for high-dimensional data. We also introduce a new procedure for the classical multiple sample significance test in multivariate analysis of variance which is valid for high-dimensional data.     

Some competitors of the mood test for the two-sample scale problem

Let X_l,…,X_n (Y_l,…,Y_m) be a random sample from an absolutely continuous distribution with distribution function F(G).A class of distribution-free tests based on U-statistics is proposed for testing the equality of F and G against the alternative that X's are more dispersed then Y's. Let 2 ? C ? n and 2 ? d ? m be two fixed integers. Let ?_c,d(X_il,…,X_ic ; Y_jl,…,X_jd)=1(-1)when max as well as min of {X_il,…,X_ic ; Y_jl,…,Y_jd } are some X_i's (Y_j's)and zero oterwise. Let S_c,d be the U-statistic corresponding to ?_c,d.In case of equal sample sizes, S22 is equivalent to Mood's Statistic.Large values of S_c,d are significant and these tests are quite efficient     

A DISTRIBUTION-FREE TEST FOR TWO-WAY LAYOUT1

Many nonparametric tests have been proposed for the hypothesis of no row (treatment) effect in a one-way layout design. Examples of such tests are Kruskal-Wallis H-test, Bhapkar's (1961) V-test and Deshpande's (1965) L-test. However not many tests are available for testing the same hypothesis in a two-way layout design without interaction. Perhaps the only “established” test is the one due to Friedman (1937). However, it applies to the case of one observation per cell only. In this paper, a new distribution-free test is proposed for the hypothesis of row effect in a two-way layout design. It applies to the case of several observations per cell, not necessarily equal. The asymptotic efficiency of the proposed test relative to other tests is studied.     

Hayter and Tsui's test with double sampling for the vector mean of multivariate normal population

Abstract

In this paper, we introduce a version of Hayter and Tsui's statistical test with double sampling for the vector mean of a population under multivariate normal assumption. A study showed that this new test was more or as efficient than the well-known Hotelling's T² with double sampling. Some nice features of Hayter and Tsui's test are its simplicity of implementation and its capability of identifying the errant variables when the null hypothesis is rejected. Taking that into consideration, a new control chart called HTDS is also introduced as a tool to monitor multivariate process vector mean when using double sampling.     

A moment test to identify uniformity

An omnibus test of uniformity based upon the ratios of sample moments and population moments is introduced. Results of a monte carlo power study show that for two types of alternatives considered, the proposed test has good power in comparison with Neyman's test N ₂Greenwood's test, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, and Chi-squared test.     

Generalizations of Mathisen's median test for comparing several treatments with a control

A distribution-free test for comparing several treatments with a control is proposed for one-way classified data. It is advantageous to use the test in life-testing experiments where testing time is expensive. The proposed test has a shorter expected duration than a previously proposed test by Slivka(1970). The optimal allocation of the experimental units to the treatments for two situations are given. In a simulation study the power of the test is compared with the power of Slivka's test. An extension of the test for two-way classified data is given     

Exponentiality test based on Renyi distance between equilibrium distributions

ABSTRACT

On the basis of Csiszar's φ-divergence discrimination information, we propose a measure of discrepancy between equilibriums associated with two distributions. Proving that a distribution can be characterized by associated equilibrium distribution, a Renyi distance of the equilibrium distributions is constructed that made us to propose an EDF-based goodness-of-fit test for exponential distribution. For comparing the performance of the proposed test, some well-known EDF-based tests and some entropy-based tests are considered. Based on the simulation results, the proposed test has better powers than those of competing entropy-based tests for the alternatives with decreasing hazard rate function. The use of the proposed test is evaluated in an illustrative example.     

KENDALL'S TAU AND CONTINGENCY TABLES

Kendall's tau is a coefficient of concordance between two rankings of n objects. Its definition and large sample normal approximation are easily extended to the case where one of the rankings contains ties. In this paper, definition and normal approximation are extended further to the case where both rankings contain ties. The results are applied to give a fully distribution-free test for two-way contingency tables with ordered categories.     

Review of Five Multilevel Analysis Programs: BMDP-5V,GENMOD, HLM,ML3, VARCL

A class of statistics is introduced for testing stochastic ordering between two independent distributions. This class includes as a special case the celebrated Mann—Whitney—Wilcoxon statistic. The new class is shown to be asymptotically normal both under the null and nonnull hypotheses. It is distribution-free. Using Pitman's asymptotic efficacy it is shown that for some alternatives the Mann—Whitney—Wilcoxon statistic is the member with the highest efficacy, although for others it is not, and the member with the highest efficacy is identified.     

Testing for Generalized Lorenz Dominance

The Generalized Lorenz dominance can be used to take account of differences in mean income as well as income inequality in case of two income distributions possessing unequal means. Asymptotically distribution-free and consistent tests have been proposed for comparing two generalized Lorenz curves in the whole interval [p ₁, p ₂] where 0 < p ₁ < p ₂ < 1. Size and power of the test has been derived.