[R] help needed using t.test with factors

Thomas Adams Thomas.Adams at noaa.gov
Thu Feb 4 20:45:15 CET 2010


Dennis,

Thank you for the suggestion, but I get this error:

 > t.test(MAE ~ type,data=data)
Error in t.test.formula(MAE ~ type, data = data) :
  grouping factor must have exactly 2 levels

Tom



Dennis Murphy wrote:
> Hi:
>
> On Thu, Feb 4, 2010 at 11:07 AM, Thomas Adams <Thomas.Adams at noaa.gov 
> <mailto:Thomas.Adams at noaa.gov>> wrote:
>
>     I am trying to use t.test on the following data:
>
>     date    type    INTERVAL    nCASES    MTF    SDF    MTO    SDO  
>      nFST    MF    nOBS    MO    MB    BIASCV    BIASEV    ME    MAE  
>      RMSE    CRCF
>     2001-06-15    avn    GE1.00    4385    0.246    0.300    1.502  
>      0.556    1367    1.373    4385    1.502    1.471    0.285  
>      0.164    -1.256    1.266    1.399    0.056
>     2001-06-15    avn    0.00LT0.01    852225    0.018    0.066  
>      0.000    0.001    708406    0.001    852225    0.000    0.000  
>      1.663    71.664    0.018    0.018    0.068    0.176
>     2001-06-15    avn    0.01LT0.10    77643    0.097    0.151  
>      0.039    0.025    176129    0.040    77643    0.039    0.040  
>      2.331    2.486    0.058    0.086    0.162    0.096
>     2001-06-15    avn    0.10LT0.25    29388    0.145    0.186  
>      0.162    0.043    74164    0.160    29388    0.162    0.160  
>      2.493    0.897    -0.017    0.129    0.189    0.056
>     2001-06-15    avn    0.25LT0.50    17592    0.177    0.208  
>      0.353    0.070    25189    0.336    17592    0.353    0.343  
>      1.365    0.503    -0.175    0.238    0.279    0.033
>     2001-06-15    avn    0.50LT1.00    10503    0.208    0.245  
>      0.693    0.138    6481    0.666    10503    0.693    0.683  
>      0.593    0.300    -0.485    0.517    0.560    0.017
>     2001-06-15    avn    GE1.00    4385    0.246    0.300    1.502  
>      0.556    1367    1.373    4385    1.502    1.471    0.285  
>      0.164    -1.256    1.266    1.399    0.056
>     2001-06-15    eta    GE1.00    4385    0.242    0.308    1.502  
>      0.556    577    1.338    4385    1.502    1.483    0.117    0.161
>        -1.261    1.272    1.398    0.111
>     2001-06-15    eta    0.00LT0.01    852225    0.013    0.055  
>      0.000    0.001    799424    0.000    852225    0.000    0.000  
>      1.368    50.193    0.013    0.013    0.057    0.175
>     2001-06-15    eta    0.01LT0.10    77643    0.079    0.139  
>      0.039    0.025    113987    0.043    77643    0.039    0.041  
>      1.617    2.013    0.040    0.079    0.144    0.083
>     2001-06-15    eta    0.10LT0.25    29388    0.116    0.169  
>      0.162    0.043    47461    0.160    29388    0.162    0.161  
>      1.596    0.719    -0.045    0.139    0.178    0.055
>     2001-06-15    eta    0.25LT0.50    17592    0.147    0.197  
>      0.353    0.070    23284    0.345    17592    0.353    0.348  
>      1.296    0.417    -0.205    0.258    0.291    0.040
>     2001-06-15    eta    0.50LT1.00    10503    0.180    0.230  
>      0.693    0.138    7003    0.643    10503    0.693    0.673  
>      0.619    0.260    -0.513    0.532    0.576    0.041
>     2001-06-15    eta    GE1.00    4385    0.242    0.308    1.502  
>      0.556    577    1.338    4385    1.502    1.483    0.117    0.161
>        -1.261    1.272    1.398    0.111
>     2001-06-15    hpc    GE1.00    4385    0.339    0.345    1.502  
>      0.556    1326    1.265    4385    1.502    1.447    0.255  
>      0.225    -1.163    1.172    1.314    0.144
>     2001-06-15    hpc    0.00LT0.01    852225    0.014    0.057  
>      0.000    0.001    777147    0.000    852225    0.000    0.000  
>      0.823    54.824    0.014    0.014    0.059    0.195
>     2001-06-15    hpc    0.01LT0.10    77643    0.092    0.148  
>      0.039    0.025    123342    0.048    77643    0.039    0.045  
>      1.967    2.346    0.053    0.085    0.156    0.109
>     2001-06-15    hpc    0.10LT0.25    29388    0.147    0.190  
>      0.162    0.043    56107    0.161    29388    0.162    0.161  
>      1.896    0.908    -0.015    0.137    0.192    0.077
>     2001-06-15    hpc    0.25LT0.50    17592    0.195    0.219  
>      0.353    0.070    25677    0.344    17592    0.353    0.348  
>      1.424    0.552    -0.158    0.237    0.276    0.057
>     2001-06-15    hpc    0.50LT1.00    10503    0.251    0.265  
>      0.693    0.138    8137    0.659    10503    0.693    0.678  
>      0.737    0.362    -0.442    0.480    0.529    0.066
>     2001-06-15    hpc    GE1.00    4385    0.339    0.345    1.502  
>      0.556    1326    1.265    4385    1.502    1.447    0.255  
>      0.225    -1.163    1.172    1.314    0.144
>     2001-06-15    ngm    GE1.00    4385    0.157    0.199    1.502  
>      0.556    297    1.119    4385    1.502    1.478    0.050    0.105
>        -1.345    1.345    1.474    -0.062
>     2001-06-15    ngm    0.00LT0.01    852225    0.017    0.063  
>      0.000    0.001    771901    0.000    852225    0.000    0.000  
>      0.703    65.457    0.017    0.017    0.065    0.132
>     2001-06-15    ngm    0.01LT0.10    77643    0.070    0.127  
>      0.039    0.025    133779    0.041    77643    0.039    0.040  
>      1.803    1.784    0.031    0.073    0.131    0.073
>     2001-06-15    ngm    0.10LT0.25    29388    0.100    0.152  
>      0.162    0.043    54850    0.161    29388    0.162    0.161  
>      1.859    0.620    -0.061    0.137    0.168    0.050
>     2001-06-15    ngm    0.25LT0.50    17592    0.130    0.177  
>      0.353    0.070    24526    0.344    17592    0.353    0.348  
>      1.360    0.369    -0.222    0.263    0.291    0.047
>     2001-06-15    ngm    0.50LT1.00    10503    0.152    0.196  
>      0.693    0.138    6383    0.643    10503    0.693    0.674  
>      0.564    0.219    -0.541    0.551    0.591    0.025
>     2001-06-15    ngm    GE1.00    4385    0.157    0.199    1.502  
>      0.556    297    1.119    4385    1.502    1.478    0.050    0.105
>        -1.345    1.345    1.474    -0.062
>     2001-06-15    rfc    GE1.00    4385    0.343    0.349    1.502  
>      0.556    1192    1.239    4385    1.502    1.446    0.224  
>      0.228    -1.159    1.168    1.310    0.157
>     2001-06-15    rfc    0.00LT0.01    852225    0.014    0.055  
>      0.000    0.001    773777    0.000    852225    0.000    0.000  
>      0.719    53.984    0.014    0.014    0.056    0.200
>     2001-06-15    rfc    0.01LT0.10    77643    0.091    0.141  
>      0.039    0.025    123689    0.047    77643    0.039    0.044  
>      1.899    2.333    0.052    0.084    0.150    0.114
>     2001-06-15    rfc    0.10LT0.25    29388    0.148    0.184  
>      0.162    0.043    58569    0.159    29388    0.162    0.160  
>      1.957    0.913    -0.014    0.134    0.186    0.081
>     2001-06-15    rfc    0.25LT0.50    17592    0.197    0.214  
>      0.353    0.070    26386    0.340    17592    0.353    0.345  
>      1.448    0.558    -0.156    0.232    0.271    0.055
>     2001-06-15    rfc    0.50LT1.00    10503    0.253    0.262  
>      0.693    0.138    8123    0.643    10503    0.693    0.671  
>      0.718    0.365    -0.440    0.476    0.525    0.074
>     2001-06-15    rfc    GE1.00    4385    0.343    0.349    1.502  
>      0.556    1192    1.239    4385    1.502    1.446    0.224  
>      0.228    -1.159    1.168    1.310    0.157
>     2001-07-15    avn    GE1.00    3258    0.194    0.233    1.399  
>      0.400    1323    1.440    3258    1.399    1.410    0.418  
>      0.139    -1.204    1.209    1.287    0.039
>     2001-07-15    avn    0.00LT0.01    879285    0.021    0.073  
>      0.000    0.001    736915    0.001    879285    0.000    0.000  
>      1.541    73.048    0.020    0.020    0.075    0.137
>     2001-07-15    avn    0.01LT0.10    84628    0.081    0.139  
>      0.039    0.025    179228    0.040    84628    0.039    0.040  
>      2.200    2.104    0.043    0.078    0.146    0.079
>
>
> This wouldn't read for me:
>  
> Error: unexpected string constant in:
> "79285    0.000    0.000    1.541    73.048    0.020    0.020    
> 0.075    0.137
> 2001-07-15    avn    0.01LT0.10    84628    0.081    0.139    0.039    
> 0.025
>
>  
>
>     of which this is just a small portion of the data. What I want to
>     do is to test the difference between the MAE values for those that
>     are, for example, 'hpc' vs those that are 'rfc', that is, by
>     'type' in the header. 
>
>
> t.test(MAE ~ type, data = yourdf, ...)
>
> By default, t.test uses var.equal = FALSE and paired = FALSE. If you 
> want to
> assume equal population variances, set var.equal = TRUE. Since the 
> sample sizes
> are going to be large, this is essentially a Z-test.
>  
>
>     I have looked for many examples and have tried to construct the
>     correct syntax, but no luck so far. If possible, I would further
>     like to break down the test, not only by type, but type and INTERVAL.
>
>
> If you want this type of breakdown, you're going to be doing a two-way 
> ANOVA.
> Individual t-tests in this case would be an extremely inefficient use 
> of the data.
>
> HTH,
> Dennis
>
>
>     -- 
>     Thomas E Adams
>     National Weather Service
>     Ohio River Forecast Center
>     1901 South State Route 134
>     Wilmington, OH 45177
>
>     EMAIL:  thomas.adams at noaa.gov <mailto:thomas.adams at noaa.gov>
>
>     VOICE:  937-383-0528
>     FAX:    937-383-0033
>
>     ______________________________________________
>     R-help at r-project.org <mailto:R-help at r-project.org> mailing list
>     https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help
>     PLEASE do read the posting guide
>     http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html
>     and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.
>
>


-- 
Thomas E Adams
National Weather Service
Ohio River Forecast Center
1901 South State Route 134
Wilmington, OH 45177

EMAIL:	thomas.adams at noaa.gov

VOICE:	937-383-0528
FAX:	937-383-0033



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