

The exception to this is if the ratio of the smallest to largest group size is greater than 1.5 (largest compared to smallest). This means that some deviation away from normality does not have a large influence on Type I error rates. However, the t-test is described as a robust test with respect to the assumption of normality. You can run these tests using SPSS Statistics, the procedure for which can be found in our Testing for Normality guide. You can test for this using a number of different tests, but the Shapiro-Wilks test of normality or a graphical method, such as a Q-Q Plot, are very common. Note: Technically, it is the residuals that need to be normally distributed, but for an independent t-test, both will give you the same result. The independent t-test requires that the dependent variable is approximately normally distributed within each group. An example would be gender - an individual would have to be classified as either male or female – not both.Īssumption of normality of the dependent variable

Often we are investigating differences in individuals, which means that when comparing two groups, an individual in one group cannot also be a member of the other group and vice versa.

Unrelated groups, also called unpaired groups or independent groups, are groups in which the cases (e.g., participants) in each group are different.
