Introduction to Non parametric tests

History
• John Arbuthnot, a Scottish mathematician and physician, was the first to introduce
nonparametric analytical methods in 1710. He performed a statistical analysis similar
to the sign test in his paper. Nonparametric analysis was not used for a while after that
paper, until Jacob Wolfowitz used the term “nonparametric” again in 1942 . Then, in
1945, Frank Wilcoxon introduced a nonparametric analysis method using rank, which
is the most commonly used method today. In 1947, Henry Mann and his student
Donald Ransom Whitney expanded on Wilcoxon’s technique to develop a technique
for comparing two groups of different number of samples. In 1951, William Kruskal
and Allen Wallis introduced a nonparametric test method to compare three or more
groups using rank data.
 Non parametric test
• In statistics, nonparametric tests are methods of statistical analysis that do
not require a distribution to meet the required assumptions to be analyzed
(especially if the data is not normally distributed). Due to such a reason,
they are sometimes referred to as distribution-free tests.
• The nonparametric tests are used as an alternative method to parametric
tests, not as their substitutes. In other words, if the data meets the required
assumptions for performing the parametric tests, the relevant parametric
test must be applied.
 Parametric and Non parametric tests
• In parametric statistical analysis, the assumption of normality, which specifies that
the means of the sample group are normally distributed, and the assumption of
equal variance, which specifies that the variances of the samples and of their
corresponding population are equal, are two most basic assumptions which have to
be fulfilled. Hence, parametric statistical analyses are conducted on the premise that
the above assumptions are satisfied. However, if these assumptions are not satisfied,
that is, if the distribution of the sample is skewed toward one side or the distribution
is unknown due to the small sample size, parametric statistical techniques cannot be
used. In such cases, nonparametric statistical techniques are excellent alternatives.
 Why Non-parametric test.
• In order to achieve the correct results from the statistical analysis, we should know
the situations in which the application of nonparametric tests is appropriate. The
main reasons to apply the nonparametric test include the following:
• The underlying data do not fulfill the normality assumption and the variance is
heterogeneous
• The population sample size is too small
• The analyzed data is ordinal or nominal.
• Can not remove outlier.
•  Nonparametric tests work well with skewed distributions and distributions that are
better represented by the median.
Difference between Parametric and Non Parametric
• Non-parametric analysis methods are clearly the correct choice when the
assumption of normality is clearly violated; however, they are not always the top
• choice for cases with small sample sizes because they have less statistical power
compared to parametric techniques and difficulties in calculating the “95%
confidence interval” which assists the understanding of the readers. Parametric
methods may lead to significant results in some cases, while nonparametric
methods may result in more significant results in other cases. it is more valid to
use nonparametric methods because they are “always valid, but not always
efficient,” while parametric methods are “always efficient, but not always valid”.
 Measurement and scaling technique
• An important utility of any scientific research is to measure the variables and establish the
relationship between variables. The term measurement means assigning numbers or some other
symbols to the characteristics of certain objects. The measurement means not measuring the
object but characteristics of it. Most of the time social science studies variables that are
qualitative in nature. As Attitude, Perception, Satisfaction, Loyalty, empowerment etc. Scaling
is an extension of measurement. Scaling involves creating a continuum on which
measurements on the object are located . For example suppose you want to measure the
customer satisfaction level towards services provided by a particular restaurant and five-point
Likert item statement is used for the same purpose, where 1 indicate Highly Dissatisfied and 5
indicate Highly Satisfied. Basically, there are four levels of measurement; they are Nominal,
Ordinal, Interval and Ratio
 Measurement scales
• Nominal scale: Nominal scale is simply a system of assigning number symbols to
events in order to label them. The numbers function as a name or label and do not
have numeric meaning.
• Ordinal Data: Ordinal data refers to data that has some meaningful order so that
higher values represent more of some character than lower values.

• Interval Data: Interval data has a meaningful order and also has the quality that
measures equal intervals between measurements, represent equal changes in the
quantity of whatever is being measured.

• Ratio Data: Ratio data has all the qualities of interval data (natural order, equal
intervals) plus a natural zero point. Many physical measurements are ratio data, for
instance, height, weight, and age.