Many statistical applications in psychology, social science, business administration, and
the natural sciences involve several groups. For example, an environmentalist is
interested in knowing if the average amount of pollution varies in several bodies of water.
A sociologist is interested in knowing if the amount of income a person earns varies
according to his or her upbringing. A consumer looking for a new car might compare the
average gas mileage of several models.
For hypothesis tests involving more than two averages, statisticians have developed a
method called Analysis of Variance" (abbreviated ANOVA). In this chapter, you will
study the simplest form of ANOVA called single factor or One-Way ANOVA. You will
also study the F distribution, used for One-Way ANOVA, and the test of two variances. This is
just a very brief overview of One-Way ANOVA. You will study this topic in much greater detail in
future statistics courses.
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