> > I have been directed to the t-test to gather this > information. When I look at the t-test, however, > it appears to be geared toward *estimating* the > difference in the means of a population based on > a *sample* of the population. Since I am using > the entire population, can I still use the t-test > to determine if the difference in the means is > statistically significant? Is there another test > that should be used instead?
sort of agreeing with rich ... if there is a $1000 buck difference in average salaries ... that is what it is ... the notion of a "statistical" inference is irrelevant ... you could not attribute that to "sampling error" if the null were true
since importance is not the same as statistical significance and, you don't really have an inference to make here ... doing something like a t test seems to me ... inappropriate
if someone WANTS (insists) you do this ... because they have heard that to compare two groups you use a t test ... then they clearly do not understand what statistical inference is all about ...
now, if you are assuming that your males and females are but samples of all the years and salaries that you have had or could have (ie, target population is much much larger) ... perhaps THEN ... some inferential test might be ok
but not for what you describe
. . ================================================================= Instructions for joining and leaving this list, remarks about the problem of INAPPROPRIATE MESSAGES, and archives are available at: . http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ . =================================================================
