Which is an example of a parametric test?

Which is an example of a parametric test?

• A. t-test
• B. Mann-Whitney U
• C. Spearman's correlation
• D. Chi-square test

Answer: (A)

Parametric tests assume the population distribution is known (usually normal) and rely on parameters like the mean and standard deviation. The t-test embodies this approach because it uses the sample mean and sample standard deviation to determine whether observed differences in means are likely under the null hypothesis. It’s appropriate when your data are interval or ratio and the population distribution is roughly normal (with, in the two-sample case, similar variances). The other options don’t fit the parametric framework: the Mann-Whitney U compares ranks to assess differences in central tendency and does not assume normality; Spearman’s correlation also uses ranks to measure monotonic relationships and is nonparametric; the Chi-square test works with categorical data and compares observed vs. expected frequencies, not means or distributions of continuous variables.

Parametric tests assume the population distribution is known (usually normal) and rely on parameters like the mean and standard deviation. The t-test embodies this approach because it uses the sample mean and sample standard deviation to determine whether observed differences in means are likely under the null hypothesis. It’s appropriate when your data are interval or ratio and the population distribution is roughly normal (with, in the two-sample case, similar variances). The other options don’t fit the parametric framework: the Mann-Whitney U compares ranks to assess differences in central tendency and does not assume normality; Spearman’s correlation also uses ranks to measure monotonic relationships and is nonparametric; the Chi-square test works with categorical data and compares observed vs. expected frequencies, not means or distributions of continuous variables.