[R] help needed using t.test with factors

Peter Ehlers ehlers at ucalgary.ca
Thu Feb 4 20:52:22 CET 2010


Tom,

  t.test(MAE ~ type, data=data, subset=type %in% c('hpc','rfc'))

  -Peter Ehlers

Thomas Adams wrote:
> 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.
>>
>>
> 
> 

-- 
Peter Ehlers
University of Calgary



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