next up previous contents
Next: The Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test Up: Nonparametric (Distribution-Free) Inferences Previous: Introduction to Nonparametric Inferences

The Sign Test for Paired Data

Given n pairs of data, the sign test tests the hypothesis that the median of the differences in the pairs is zero. The test statistic is the number of positive differences. If the null hypothesis is true, then the numbers of positive and negative differences should be approximately the same. In fact, the number of positive differences will have a binomial distribution with parameters n and p. Stataquest will return the p-value associated with the test statistic.



Jan Lethen
Wed Nov 13 16:20:46 CST 1996