A Study of Non-parametric Statistical Tests to Quantify the Change of Water Quality

수질변화의 계량화를 위한 비모수적 통계 준거에 관한 연구

This study was carried out to suggest the best statistical test which may be used to quantify the change of water quality between two groups. Traditional t-test may not be used in cases where the normality of underlying population distribution is not assured. Three non-parametric tests which are based on the relative order of the measurements, were studied to find out the applicability in water quality data analysis. The sign test is based on the sign of the deviation of the measurement from the median value, and the binomial distribution table is used. The signed rank test utilizes not only the sign but also the magnitude of the deviation. The Wilcoxon rank-sum test which is basically same as Mann-Whitney test, tests the mean difference between two independent samples which may have missing data. Among the three non-parametric tests studied, the singed rank test was found out to be applicable in the quantification of the change of water quality between two samples.