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7 - Is This Normal?

from Part II - How to Use Statistics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 January 2019

Paul Cairns
Affiliation:
University of York
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Summary

Many statistical tests that are commonly used rely on the assumption that data are normally distributed. This chapter discusses why normality commonly occurs in statistics but also how, in many practical situations in HCI, it is not safe to assume normality. It also shows how tests for normality are not meaningful or useful. Instead, where normality is in doubt, analysis should be more careful and use suitable alternative tests.

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Chapter
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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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  • Is This Normal?
  • Paul Cairns, University of York
  • Book: Doing Better Statistics in Human-Computer Interaction
  • Online publication: 26 January 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108685139.008
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To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Is This Normal?
  • Paul Cairns, University of York
  • Book: Doing Better Statistics in Human-Computer Interaction
  • Online publication: 26 January 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108685139.008
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Is This Normal?
  • Paul Cairns, University of York
  • Book: Doing Better Statistics in Human-Computer Interaction
  • Online publication: 26 January 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108685139.008
Available formats
×