Distribution-free Tests

This text, aimed at undergraduate and postgraduate students, looks at a selection of distribution-free methods and tests. The authors have attempted to explain the techniques carefully and to give numerical examples for each. Each chapter deals with a specific topic. For most of these topics two tests are presented: a relatively sophisticated one with power properties, and a simple one where ease of execution is the main priority. Apart from the chi-squared and sign tests which date from the beginning of the century, the origins of the techniques lie within the period from the late 1930s to the present day. The tests have been chosen on the basis of usefulness and ease of application. Also covered are some of the important advances which have been made since the mid-1950s. Introductory chapters examine the necessary statistical background and general ideas about hypotheses-testing. The book may be of interest not only to statistics students but also those who use statistical techniques covering a wider span.