The Mann-Whitney U-test is used for what type of data?

The Mann-Whitney U-test is used for what type of data?

• A. Chi-square test
• B. Spearman correlation
• C. Mann-Whitney U-test
• D. Wilcoxon Signed Rank

Answer: (C)

When you have two independent groups and the data are ordinal or not normally distributed, you compare them using the Mann-Whitney U-test. It works by ranking all observations from both groups together and then evaluating whether the ranks from one group tend to be higher than those from the other. Because it relies on ranks rather than raw values, it doesn’t assume normality and is suitable for small samples. The test essentially asks whether the two populations differ in their central tendency, often interpreted as different medians. It’s the nonparametric alternative to the independent-samples t-test. The other options don’t fit this scenario: chi-square handles categorical counts, Spearman correlation measures association between two variables, and the Wilcoxon Signed Rank test is for paired or related samples.

When you have two independent groups and the data are ordinal or not normally distributed, you compare them using the Mann-Whitney U-test. It works by ranking all observations from both groups together and then evaluating whether the ranks from one group tend to be higher than those from the other. Because it relies on ranks rather than raw values, it doesn’t assume normality and is suitable for small samples. The test essentially asks whether the two populations differ in their central tendency, often interpreted as different medians. It’s the nonparametric alternative to the independent-samples t-test.

The other options don’t fit this scenario: chi-square handles categorical counts, Spearman correlation measures association between two variables, and the Wilcoxon Signed Rank test is for paired or related samples.