An Adjustment to the Bartlett's Test for Small Sample Size

The Bartlett's test (1937) for equality of variances is based on the χ² distribution approximation. This approximation deteriorates either when the sample size is small (particularly < 4) or when the population number is large. According to a simulation investigation, we find a similar varying trend for the mean differences between empirical distributions of Bartlett's statistics and their χ² approximations. By using the mean differences to represent the distribution departures, a simple adjustment approach on the Bartlett's statistic is proposed on the basis of equal mean principle. The performance before and after adjustment is extensively investigated under equal and unequal sample sizes, with number of populations varying from 3 to 100. Compared with the traditional Bartlett's statistic, the adjusted statistic is distributed more closely to χ² distribution, for homogeneity samples from normal populations. The type I error is well controlled and the power is a little higher after adjustment. In conclusion, the adjustment has good control on the type I error and higher power, and thus is recommended for small samples and large population number when underlying distribution is normal.