Statistical Analysis with Excel For Dummies, 3rd Edition

Chapter 13

Slightly More Complicated Testing

In This Chapter

Working with two variables

Working with replications

Understanding interactions

In Chapter 11, I show you how to test hypotheses with two samples. In Chapter 12, I show you how to test hypotheses when you have more than two samples. The common thread through both chapters is that one independent variable (also called a factor) is involved.

Many times, you have to test the effects of more than one factor. In this Chapter, I show how to analyze two factors within the same set of data. Several types of situations are possible, and I describe Excel data analysis tools that deal with each one.

Cracking the Combinations

FarKlempt Robotics, Inc., manufactures battery-powered robots. They want to test three rechargeable batteries for these robots on a set of three tasks — climbing, walking, and assembling. Which combination of battery and task results in the longest battery life?

They test a sample of nine robots. They randomly assign each robot one battery and one type of task. FarKlempt tracks the number of days each robot works before recharging. The data are in Table 13-1.

This calls for two hypothesis tests:

H0: μBattery1 ...