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Examining the effectiveness of anti-corruption strategies and associated barriers
Published in Emmanuel Kingsford Owusu, Albert P. C. Chan, Corruption in Infrastructure Procurement, 2020
Emmanuel Kingsford Owusu, Albert P. C. Chan
The assessment of the effectiveness of the identified ACM was performed using the mean score (MS) technique. Referring to the MS range values of 1 (not effective) to 5 (highly effective) extrapolated from the 5-point Likert scale, the MS for each variable or ACM indicated its levels of effectiveness, as viewed and expressed by the experts from both contexts. Moreover, after examining their levels of effectiveness, a pairwise comparison of all the identified variables was conducted to indicate the statistical significance or relevance of a given ACM concerning the level of its effectiveness as compared with another identical ACM. Therefore, whereas the MS indicated the relative importance of the measures, the pairwise comparison indicated the significance of the rating or the effectiveness of one ACM against another. A variable can, therefore, be viewed to have a higher MS when compared with another ACM. However, the pairwise comparison informs whether the highly ranked ACM is significant against the relatively lower ranked ACM. Statistically, this test was conducted using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test (Lam et al. 2009; Shan et al. 2017a). The Wilcoxon signed-rank test is the non-parametric alternative to the paired t-test, which is a parametric tool for conducting similar a test. The analysis was conducted in both contexts (i.e., developing and the developed), and the results are presented later in this section.
Photoacoustic Tomography: A New Imaging Technology for Inflammatory Arthritis
Published in Lihong V. Wang, Photoacoustic Imaging and Spectroscopy, 2017
Xueding Wang, David L. Chamberland, Paul L. Carson, J. Brian Fowlkes
The ratios of the periosteum diameters between the affected joint and the normal joint in each pair for the five pairs of specimens range from 1.09:1 to 1.18:1 with an average number of 1.12 and a standard deviation of 0.05; while the ratios of the intraarticular absorption for the five pairs of specimens range from 1.09:1 to 1.41:1 with an average number of 1.26 and a standard deviation of 0.12. Further statistical analysis was also completed to determine if there were significant differences in (1) periosteum size and (2) maximal intraarticular optical absorption between the measurements from the normal and arthritic joints. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was conducted since it is the appropriate nonparametric test for comparing the equality of matched pairs of observations. The null hypothesis was that no difference existed between the PAT measurements from the affected joints and the normal joints. There was a statistical difference with regard to each variable (p<.05).
A Multi-objective Tool Path Optimization Methodology for Sculptured Surfaces Based on Experimental Data and Heuristic Search
Published in Kaushik Kumar, Divya Zindani, J. Paulo Davim, Digital Manufacturing and Assembly Systems in Industry 4.0, 2019
N. A. Fountas, N. M. Vaxevanidis, C. I. Stergiou, R. Benhadj-Djilali
It is a natural tendency to criticize the results of optimization heuristics owing to their small difference in values. In other words, it is usually believed that they won’t actually exhibit any difference in the results of real-world applications. To examine whether this assumption is valid or just a false impression and to further justify the selection of MOVEGA against the rest of the AI variants, the difference between independent samples of measurements taken on virtually machined CAM models with reference to MOEAs’ best tool path parameter outputs was examined. The Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test was selected to judge the significant difference among paired scores. The Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test is a non-parametric statistical significance approach. The selection of this approach was based under the hypothesis that the populations of samples were not normally distributed. The non-dominated solutions from best experiments of all MOEAs were tested using the aforementioned non-parametric significance test under the 95% confidence level. As a null hypothesis, it was assumed that there was no significant difference among the pairs of populations against the alternative assumption. Table 5.6 summarizes the results obtained by conducting the aforementioned non-parametric test to all four benchmark sculptured surfaces. It is clear that significant differences among paired scores in terms of actual measurements exist since resulting p-values occur lower than 0.05. Therefore, it can be concluded that significant contributions may be achieved when a specific heuristic is implemented despite its small difference in terms of optimal values against another AI variant.
Integrating educational robot and low-cost self-made toys to enhance STEM learning performance for primary school students
Published in Behaviour & Information Technology, 2023
Chih-Chien Hu, Yu-Fen Yang, Ya-Wen Cheng, Nian-Shing Chen
In this study, both the pre- and post-tests of STEM learning written tests and the pre- and post- surveys of STEM attitudes were used to collect data for answering the research questions. Shapiro–Wilk test (1965) was used to verify the frequentist statistics of the collected data (STEM learning outcomes and STEM attitude surveys) to see if they follow normal distributions. For normality data distribution, the paired t-test was used to analyse the collected data and whether there is a statistical difference between pre- and post-STEM learning tests. For non-normality data distribution, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test (Pratt 1959) was used to analyse whether the two data sets are statistically different from each other. The R version 3.6.1 software was used to analyse the collected data for executing the statistical analysis.
Combined Heat and Power Dispatch Problem Using Comprehensive Learning Wavelet-Mutated Slime Mould Algorithm
Published in Electric Power Components and Systems, 2023
Kanchan Pawani, Manmohan Singh
The hypothetical test is performed to validate the superiority of the proposed algorithm. Hypothetical test can be classified in two categories (1) parametric test (2) Non parametric test. Non parametric test plays an important role for statistic analysis and decision making. This test is also reffered as free distribution method and usually require rank analysis. The Wilcoxon signed rank test is a non parametric analytical hypothetical test used in comparing two comparable samples. This test is named after Frank Wilcoxon (1892–1965). This test is performed to confirm the competitiveness of proposed method with 5% confidence level. The column and contains the sum of rank of better and not better value obtained by CLWSMA and other methods. The obtained -value less than 0.05 shows competitive result are given in Table 8.
A statistical study on the effect of water content, temperature and clay in soil reduction activity when processing contaminated recycled asphalt aggregate with screenless separation equipment with a vibration device
Published in Road Materials and Pavement Design, 2020
Milkos Borges Cabrera, Tomoaki Satomi, Hiroshi Takahashi
After finishing previous procedures, RStudio version 0.99.887 was used to carry out a statistical analysis of experimental results. The analysis was carried out as follows: Determining a fitted curve of each set of data (a group of results related with the same experimental conditions, changing only the water content) and then change the water content by 0.065% to increase the amount of results in each set of data.Analysing the normality distribution of every obtained set of data from the fitted curve.Verifying if difference arises between two obtained sets of data. If the two obtained sets of data are not normally distributed, Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test will be used to compare them. In the case of the two obtained sets of data are normally distributed, Student’s t-test will be used to compare them.