The Kruskal-Wallis H Test

The Kruskal-Wallis H Test is a nonparametric

procedure that can be used to compare more than
two populations in a completely randomized
design.
All n = n1+n2++nk measurements are jointly
ranked (i.e.treat as one large sample).
We use the sums of the ranks of the k samples to
compare the distributions.
 The Kruskal-Wallis H Test

Used when we want to test if the means of 3 or more

groups are different.

If the normality assumptions are not met AND we do

not have a balanced design, ANOVA is not an
appropriate tool.

If these assumptions are violated, Plan B is the non

parametric alternative The Kruskal-Wallis Test.
 The Kruskal-Wallis H Test
Rank

Rank the
the total
total measurements
measurements in
in all
all kk samples
samples
from
from11 to to n.
n.Tied
Tied observations
observations areare assigned
assigned average
average of
of
the
the ranks
ranks they
they would
would have
have gotten
gotten ifif not
not tied.
tied.
Calculate
Calculate
T
Ti i == rank
ranksum sum for
forthe
the ith
ith sample
sample ii == 1, 1, 2,,k
2,,k
And
And the the test
test statistic
statistic
12 Ti 2
H 3(n 1)
n(n 1) ni
 The Kruskal-Wallis H Test
H
H00:: the
the kk distributions
distributions are
are identical
identical versus
versus
H
Haa:: at
at least
least one
one distribution
distribution isis different
different
Test
Test statistic:
statistic: Kruskal-Wallis
Kruskal-Wallis H H
When
When H H00 isis true,
true, the
the test
test statistic
statistic HH has
has an
an
approximate
approximate chi-square
chi-square distribution
distribution with
with df
df
== k-1.
k-1.
Use
Use aa right-tailed
right-tailed rejection
rejection region
region oror p-
p-
value
value based
based on on the
the Chi-square
Chi-square distribution.
distribution.
 Example
Four groups of students were randomly
assigned to be taught with four different
techniques, and their achievement test scores
were recorded. Are the distributions of test
scores the same, or do they differ in location?
1 2 3 4
65 75 59 94
87 69 78 89
73 83 67 80
79 81 62 88
 Teaching Methods
1 2 3 4
65 (3) 75 (7) 59(1) 94 (16)
87 (13) 69 (5) 78 (8) 89 (15)
73 (6) 83 (12) 67 (4) 80 (10)
79 (9) 81 (11) 62 (2) 88 (14)
Ti 31 35 15 55

Rank
Rankthe
the16
16 HH00::the
thedistributions
distributionsof
ofscores
scoresare arethe
thesame
same
measurements
measurements HHa::the distributions differ in location
a the distributions differ in location
from
from11toto16,
16, 2
and 12 T
andcalculate
calculate :H
Teststatistic i 3(n 1)
the
thefour
fourrank
rank n(n 1) ni
sums.
sums. 12 312 352 152 552
3(17) 8.96
16(17) 4
 Teaching Methods
HH00::the
thedistributions
distributionsof
ofscores
scoresare
arethe
thesame
same
HHa::the
thedistributions
distributionsdiffer
differin
inlocation
location
a

12 Ti 2
:H
Teststatistic 3(n 1)
n(n 1) ni
12 312 352 152 552
3(17) 8.96
16(17) 4
Reject
RejectHH00..There
Thereisissufficient
sufficient
Rejection
Rejectionregion:
region: For
Foraaright-
right-
evidence
evidenceto toindicate
indicatethat
thatthere
tailed
tailedchi-square
chi-squaretest with==..
testwith there
05 isisaadifference
differenceinintest
testscores
scoresfor
for
05and
anddf
df==4-1
4-1=3,
=3,reject
rejectHH00ififHH
the
thefour
fourteaching
teachingtechniques.
techniques.
7.81.
7.81.
I.
Key Concepts
Nonparametric Methods
These methods can be used when the data cannot be measured on a
quantitative scale, or when
The numerical scale of measurement is arbitrarily set by the
researcher, or when
The parametric assumptions such as normality or constant
variance are seriously violated.
Kruskal-Wallis H Test: Completely Randomized
Design
1. Jointly rank all the observations in the k samples (treat as
one large sample of size n say). Calculate the rank sums,
Ti rank sum of sample i, and the test statistic
12 Ti 2
H 3(n 1)
n(n 1) ni

2.If the null hypothesis of equality of distributions is false,

H will be unusually large, resulting in a one-tailed test.
3.For sample sizes of five or greater, the rejection region for
H is based on the chi-square distribution with (k 1)
degrees of freedom.