F-Test

An F-test is any statistical hypothesis test whose test statistic assumes an F probability distribution. The F-test is frequently associated with analysis of variance (ANOVA) and is most commonly used to test the null hypothesis that the means of normally distributed groups are equal, although it can be used to test a variety of different hypotheses. The F-test was devised as an extension to the Z-test: F is equal to the squared value of t (t2 = F). Although the F-test produces the same information as the Z-test when testing one independent variable with a nondirectional hypothesis, the F-test has a distinct advantage over the Z-test because multiple independent groups can easily be compared. Survey researchers often use the F-test because of its flexibility to ...