Difference between revisions of "Documentation/How Tos/Calc: FTEST function"

From Apache OpenOffice Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search
(Initial content)
 
(Syntax:)
Line 8: Line 8:
 
: <tt>'''data1'''</tt> and <tt>'''data2'''</tt> are ranges or arrays (possibly of different size) containing numbers, on which the F-test is performed. The F-test calculates the likelihood that two samples have the same variance.
 
: <tt>'''data1'''</tt> and <tt>'''data2'''</tt> are ranges or arrays (possibly of different size) containing numbers, on which the F-test is performed. The F-test calculates the likelihood that two samples have the same variance.
  
: In effect, the sample variances of <tt>'''data1'''</tt> and <tt>'''data2'''</tt> are calculated. <tt>'''data1'''</tt> and <tt>'''data2'''</tt> are re-ordered if necessary so that <tt>'''data1'''</tt> has the larger variance (&sigma;<sub>1</sub>) and <tt>'''data2'''</tt> the smaller (&sigma;<sub>2</sub>), and an F_value is calculated as &sigma;<sub>1</sub>/&sigma;<sub>2</sub>. The result returned is <tt>'''2*FDIST(F_value; COUNT(data1)-1; COUNT(data2)-1)'''</tt>. This is the two-tailed probability that the variances in <tt>'''data1'''</tt> and <tt>'''data2'''</tt> are not significantly different. (The internal algorithms used by Calc are more sophisticated than this).
+
: In effect, the sample variances of <tt>'''data1'''</tt> and <tt>'''data2'''</tt> are calculated. <tt>'''data1'''</tt> and <tt>'''data2'''</tt> are re-ordered if necessary so that <tt>'''data1'''</tt> has the larger variance (&sigma;<sub>1</sub>) and <tt>'''data2'''</tt> the smaller (&sigma;<sub>2</sub>), and an F_value is calculated as &sigma;<sub>1</sub>/&sigma;<sub>2</sub>. The result returned by <tt>'''FTEST'''</tt> is <tt>'''2*FDIST(F_value; COUNT(data1)-1; COUNT(data2)-1)'''</tt>. This is the two-tailed probability that the variances in <tt>'''data1'''</tt> and <tt>'''data2'''</tt> are not significantly different. (The internal algorithms used by Calc are more sophisticated than this).
  
 
: <i>Advanced topic:</i>
 
: <i>Advanced topic:</i>

Revision as of 05:34, 14 June 2008


FTEST

Returns the result of an F-test.

Syntax:

FTEST(data1; data2)

data1 and data2 are ranges or arrays (possibly of different size) containing numbers, on which the F-test is performed. The F-test calculates the likelihood that two samples have the same variance.
In effect, the sample variances of data1 and data2 are calculated. data1 and data2 are re-ordered if necessary so that data1 has the larger variance (σ1) and data2 the smaller (σ2), and an F_value is calculated as σ12. The result returned by FTEST is 2*FDIST(F_value; COUNT(data1)-1; COUNT(data2)-1). This is the two-tailed probability that the variances in data1 and data2 are not significantly different. (The internal algorithms used by Calc are more sophisticated than this).
Advanced topic:
The parameters data1 and data2 are always evaluated as array formulas.

Example:

FTEST({9;8;6;8}; {5;6;7})

returns approximately 0.82. The probability that the variances of these two samples are not significantly different is about 82%. Note: a real world example would need more data than this.

See also:

FDIST

Array formulas

Statistical functions

Issues:

  • Earlier versions of Excel and the ODFF draft specification incorrectly claimed this was a one-tailed test.
Personal tools