One-way ANOVA

What is this test for?

The one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) is used to determine whether there are any statistically significant
differences between the means of three or more independent (unrelated) groups. This guide will provide a brief
introduction to the one-way ANOVA, including the assumptions of the test and when you should use this test. If
you are familiar with the one-way ANOVA, you can skip this guide and go straight to how to run this test in
SPSS Statistics by clicking here.

What does this test do?

The one-way ANOVA compares the means between the groups you are interested in and determines whether
any of those means are statistically significantly different from each other. Specifically, it tests the null
hypothesis:

where µ = group mean and k = number of groups. If, however, the one-way ANOVA returns a statistically
significant result, we accept the alternative hypothesis (HA), which is that there are at least two group means that
are statistically significantly different from each other.

At this point, it is important to realize that the one-way ANOVA is an omnibus test statistic and cannot tell you
which specific groups were statistically significantly different from each other, only that at least two groups
were.

When might you need to use this test?

If you are dealing with individuals, you are likely to encounter this situation using two different types of study
design:

One study design is to recruit a group of individuals and then randomly split this group into three or more
smaller groups (i.e., each participant is allocated to one, and only one, group). You then get each group to
undertake different tasks (or put them under different conditions) and measure the outcome/response on the
same dependent variable. For example, a researcher wishes to know whether different pacing strategies affect
the time to complete a marathon. The researcher randomly assigns a group of volunteers to either a group that
(a) starts slow and then increases their speed, (b) starts fast and slows down or (c) runs at a steady pace
throughout. The time to complete the marathon is the outcome (dependent) variable. This study design is
illustrated schematically in the diagram on the next page:
What assumptions does the test make?

There are three main assumptions, listed here:

1. The dependent variable is normally distributed in each group that is being compared in the one-way
ANOVA (technically, it is the residuals that need to be normally distributed, but the results will be the
same). So, for example, if we were comparing three groups (e.g., amateur, semi-professional and
professional rugby players) on their leg strength, their leg strength values (dependent variable) would have
to be normally distributed for the amateur group of players, normally distributed for the semi-professionals
and normally distributed for the professional players. There is homogeneity of variances. This means that
the population variances in each group are equal.
2. Independence of observations. This is mostly a study design issue and, as such, you will need to
determine whether you believe it is possible that your observations are not independent based on your
study design (e.g., group work/families/etc).

What happens if my data fail these assumptions?

Go through the options as above:

1. The one-way ANOVA is considered a robust test against the normality assumption. This means that it
tolerates violations to its normality assumption rather well. As regards the normality of group data, the one-
way ANOVA can tolerate data that is non-normal (with only a small effect on the Type I error rate. This
leaves you with two options: (1) transform your data using various algorithms so that the shape of your
distributions become normally distributed or (2) choose the nonparametric test which does not require the
assumption of normality.
2. A lack of independence of cases has been stated as the most serious assumption to fail. Often, there is
little you can do that offers a good solution to this problem.
How do I report the results of a one-way ANOVA?

Structure of results:

Source SS df MS F Sig.
Between SSb k-1 MSb MSb/MSw p value
Within SSw N-k MSw    
Total SSb + SSw N-1      

An example:

Source SS df MS F Sig.
Between 91.476 2 45.733 4.467 .021
Within 276.400 27 10.237    
Total 367.867 29      

You will want to report this as follows:

There was a statistically significant difference between groups as determined by one-way ANOVA (F(2,27) =
4.467, p = .021). This is all you will need to write for the one-way ANOVA per se. However, in reality you will
want probably also want to report means ± standard deviations for your groups, as well as follow up a
statistically significant result with a post hoc test.. The general form of writing the result of a one-way ANOVA
is as follows:

You should not report the result as "significant difference", but instead report it as "statistically significant
difference". This is because your decision as to whether the result is significant or not should not be based
solely on your statistical test. Therefore, to indicate to readers that this "significance" is a statistical one, include
this is your sentence.

My p-value is greater than 0.05, what do I do now?

Report the result of the one-way ANOVA (e.g., "There were no statistically significant differences between
group means as determined by one-way ANOVA (F(2,27) = 1.397, p = .15)"). Not achieving a statistically
significant result does not mean you should not report group means ± standard deviation also.

How should I graphically present my results?

First off, it is not essential that you present your results in a graphical form. However, it can add a lot of clarity
to your results. There are a few key points to producing a good graph. Firstly, you need to present error bars for
each group mean. It is customary to use the standard deviation of each group, but standard error and confidence
limits are also used in the literature. You should also make sure that the scale is appropriate for what you are
measuring. Generally, if graphically presenting data from an ANOVA, we recommend using a bar chart with
standard deviation bars.