Example:
#A =
H0:
The populations from which the two samples are taken have identical
median values. To be complete, the two populations have identical
distributions.
Assumptions:
None realy.
Scale:
Ordinal.
Procedure:
Rank order all N = m + n values from both samples
(m and n) combined. Sum the ranks of the smallest sample
(Wsmallest). This value is used to determine the level of significance.
Level of Significance:
Look up the level of significance in a table using Wsmallest, m
and n.
Calculating the exact level of significance is based on calculating all
possible permutations of ranks over both samples. This is computationally
demanding if n and m are larger than 7.
Approximation:
If m>10 and n>10,
Z = ( Wsmallest - 0.5 - m * ( m + n + 1 ) / 2 ) /
sqrt( m * n * ( m + n + 1 ) / 12 )
is approximately
Normal distributed.
(Use Wsmallest - 0.5 if Wsmallest >
N*(N+1)/4, else use
Wsmallest + 0.5)
Remarks:
In this example, exact probabilities are calculated for
m <= 10 or n <= 10. If both are larger than 7
this can take more time than is available within this system (the number
of calculations grows as N!/(m!*n!), with N!=N*(N-1)*(N-2)*...*1).
Therefore, if it is anticipated that the calculations take too much time,
the Normal approximation is used. However, the resulting values are
unreliable and this will be indicated with a *. You are advised to check
the level of significance in a table.
For m > 10 and n > 10 the Normal approximation is used.