TY - JOUR
T1 - Determining the statistical significance of the difference between arbitrary curves
T2 - A spreadsheet method
AU - Hristova, Kalina
AU - Wimley, William C.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Hristova, Wimley. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2023/10
Y1 - 2023/10
N2 - We present a simple, spreadsheet-based method to determine the statistical significance of the difference between any two arbitrary curves. This modified Chi-squared method addresses two scenarios: A single measurement at each point with known standard deviation, or multiple measurements at each point averaged to produce a mean and standard error. The method includes an essential correction for the deviation from normality in measurements with small sample size, which are typical in biomedical sciences. Statistical significance is determined without regard to the functionality of the curves, or the signs of the differences. Numerical simulations are used to validate the procedure. Example experimental data are used to demonstrate its application. An Excel spreadsheet is provided for performing the calculations for either scenario.
AB - We present a simple, spreadsheet-based method to determine the statistical significance of the difference between any two arbitrary curves. This modified Chi-squared method addresses two scenarios: A single measurement at each point with known standard deviation, or multiple measurements at each point averaged to produce a mean and standard error. The method includes an essential correction for the deviation from normality in measurements with small sample size, which are typical in biomedical sciences. Statistical significance is determined without regard to the functionality of the curves, or the signs of the differences. Numerical simulations are used to validate the procedure. Example experimental data are used to demonstrate its application. An Excel spreadsheet is provided for performing the calculations for either scenario.
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U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0289619
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0289619
M3 - Article
C2 - 37906570
AN - SCOPUS:85175656373
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 18
JO - PloS one
JF - PloS one
IS - 10 October
M1 - e0289619
ER -