Volume 3 • Issue 2 | September 2019
Extending a Priori Procedure to Two Independent Samples under Skew Normal Settings
Cong Wang, Tonghui Wang, David Trafimow, Jing Chen
Abstract:
It is useful for researchers to be able to estimate the sample size necessary to have an impressive probability of obtaining a difference between sample locations of two independent groups that is close to the difference between corresponding population locations. The present manuscript provides the necessary equations. To increase generality, the derivations presented are not based on the typical assumption that the samples come from the family of normally distributed populations but rather from the much larger family of skew normal distributions. In addition, counter to many researchers’ intuitions, we demonstrate that greater sampling precision ensues from skewness than from normality, all else being equal, with simulation results. Finally a real data example on faculty salaries of New Mexico State University is given for the illustration of our main results.
JEL classification: C130, C150, C460