F distribution

What is F distribution
 It has a variety of uses in statistics; for this session we only look at: testing for the
equality of two variances and conducting an analysis of variance (ANOVA) test.
it is always non-negative and is skewed to the right.
 The F-Distribution is also called as Variance Ratio Distribution as it is the
ratio of the variances of the two normally distributed populations.
 The F distribution has two degrees of freedom, v1 for the numerator, v2 for the
denominator.
 Statistics from these populations combine in a fraction for the F-statistic
 Both the numerator and denominator have degrees of freedom.
Cont……
 The F distribution is used to test a hypothesis of the equality of two
variances. The test statistic is the ratio of two sample variances which, under
the null hypothesis, has an F distribution with n1-1, n2-1 degrees of freedom
 Symbolically, the quantity is distributed as F-distribution with ν1=n1-1 and
ν2 = n2-1 degrees of freedom and is represented as:
Cont……
 S12 is the unbiased estimator of σ12 and is calculated as:

 S22 is the unbiased estimator of σ22 and is calculated as:

Cont………
the parameters of the F-distribution are degrees of freedom ν 1 for the
numerator and degrees of freedom ν2 for the denominator.
the change in the values of these parameters the distribution also
changes. 
• for testing the hypothesis of the equality of two population
variances, the following statistic is used
F=S1²/S2²
 Cont……………
 the Null hypothesis = σ12 = σ22 which follows the F-distribution with
degrees of freedom ν1 and ν2.
 the larger sample variance is placed in the numerator for the
convenient computations. we get the ratio of sample variance equals to
or greater than one.
 The F distribution may also be used in an analysis of variance, which
tests for the equality of means across several samples.
 Properties

 The F-distribution is skewed to the right, and the F-values can be only
positive.
 The curve reaches a peak not far to the right of 0, and then gradually
approaches the horizontal axis. The F-distribution approaches, but never
quite touches the horizontal axis.
 The populations from which the two samples are drawn are normally
distributed.
 The two populations are independent of each other.
The range of F–values is non-negative real numbers (i.e., 0 to +∞).
The particular shape of the F distribution varies considerably with
changes in ν1 and ν2.
example
 Suppose the two car factories were tested for the equality of average
daily output levels. One can also test whether the variance of output
differs or not. A more consistent output (lower variance) from a factory
might be beneficial to the firm.
 :

cont…….
 dealers can be reassured that they are more likely to be able to obtain
models when they require them. If the first factory had a standard deviation
of daily output of 25, the second of 20, both from samples size are 30 (i.e. 30
days’ output was sampled at each factory), we can now test whether whether
the difference between these is significant or not. Such a test is set up as
follows. It is known as a variance ratio test for reasons which will become
apparent.
The null and alternative H : 2
 2
; H :2
2
hypotheses are: o 0 1 A 0 1

Or, equivalently, 02 02

Ho: 2 1; HA: 2 1
1 1
 ~͠

Cont…… S12
 since the random variable we shall use is in the form of the ratio of sample variances, S22
 This is a random variable which follows an F distribution with ν1 = n1 − 1, ν2 = n2 − 1 degrees of freedom,
We require the assumption that the two samples are independent for the variance ratio to follow an F distribution.
Thus we write: S 1
2

2
S 2

 The sample data are: S1 = 25, S2 = 20, n1 = 30, n2 = 30 The test statistic is simply the ratio of sample
variances.
 In testing it is less confusing if the larger of the two variances is made the numerator of the test statistic.
Therefore, we have the following test statistic:
25 2
F   1. 5625
20 2
 This must be compared to the critical value of the F distribution with ν1 =29, v2=29 degrees of freedom
in 2.5% of the distribution The critical value in this case is 2.09.
 Since the test statistic does not exceed the critical value, the null hypothesis of equal variances cannot be
rejected with 95% confidence.
THANKS