Statistics - p value

[psipg]

Hi,

I have a set of data that I'm working with and I am trying to find the
probability that the Mean Error is equal to zero. I can complete this using
an independent one sample t test in stat view, but I can't seem to find
anything that will tell me this in excel. I have the calculated mean errors,
and I want to compare all of those to zero and find the probability that they
are equal.

Thanks,

Psipg

 

[Jerry W. Lewis]

Your description is incomplete and misleading. For any continous
distribution, the probability is zero of obtaining any given value exactly,
but that is likely not what you were asking.

You were probably intending to perform a t-test where the null hypothesis
was that some unspecified quantity is zero. How you perform such a test
depends on your unstated alternative hypothesis (which is the only thing you
can "prove"--failing to reject the null hypothesis does not prove it to be
true).

In Excel, you will end up either using a worksheet function (TDIST, TINV, or
TTEST) or one of the T-Test options in the Analysis ToolPak. If Help for
those items does not answer your question, then try providing more complete
and accurate information.

Jerry

 

[anwelln]

what does a p value mean? and how can i use it to analyze and
interpret data?

 

[Jerry W. Lewis]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-value

Jerry

what does a p value mean? and how can i use it to analyze and
interpret data?