MASH : Maths and Stats Help

Kruskal Wallis H-Test

Introduction

A Kruskal Wallis Test compares the difference between more than two independent groups, such as comparing the difference between groups A, B and C. If your data only has two groups such as Male/Female or Present/Absent you should consider the Independent-Samples t-Test

It is considered a non-parametric test and is suitable for non-parametric data. To check if your data is parametric, please check out the dedicated guide: Parametric or Not Guide (PDF)

If your data is parametric you should consider using a One-Way Between-Subjects ANOVA

Test Procedure

1. Click Analyze > Nonparametric > Legagy Dialogs > K Indepenedent Samples

   

2. Within the "Tests for Several Independent Samples" Window, select the test variable or dependent variable you are analysing and move it to the "Test Variables List" box. Then move your independent/grouping variable into the “Grouping Variable” box.

   

3. Click "Define Range". Select the numbers corresponding to your maximum and minimums values, I have 3 groups labelled 1,2 and 3, so I will use 1 and 3.

   

4. Click "Options". Within the "Several Independent Samples: Options" window select "Descriptives"

   

5. Select Continue à OK

Results

SPSS will generate three tables, to correctly report this test we need three, the Descriptives, the ANOVA, and the ANOVA Effect Sizes:

Descriptives

This table shows a selection of descriptive statistics: the sample size of each group (N), the mean of each group (Mean), and the standard deviation of each group (Std. Deviation), best practice is to report them all.

Test Statistics

This table shows the specific test results including the H-statistic (H), the degrees of freedom (df) the two-tailed significance/p-value (Asymp. Sig), we need to report all three.