Work with Statistical Objects

How To... > Work with Statistical Objects

Fathom has three statistical inference objects: interval estimate, hypothesis test, and linear model.

1.	To use a statistical object, drag one from the shelf or choose Object \| New [object].

2.	Choose the specific type of object from the pop-up menu in the object’s upper-right corner.

All options for these objects accept attribute drops from a collection.

All types of estimate, as well as most tests, can also accept summary data by allowing you to edit the default information (the bold, blue text fields).

Here’s the list of inferential procedures Fathom includes:

•Interval Estimate: Estimate Mean, Difference of Means, Estimate Proportion, and Difference of Proportions

•Hypothesis Test: Test Mean, Compare Means, Analysis of Variance, Test Proportion, Compare Proportions, Goodness of Fit, Test for Independence, Test Slope, and Test Correlation

•Linear Model: Simple Regression and Multiple Regression

In addition to inputting summary data, you can link fields of these objects to sliders, to see how changes in such things as confidence level or standard deviation affect results. Furthermore, you can collect measures from these objects and graph the relationships.

How do you remember which object you want? If you want to compute a confidence interval for something, that’s an estimate. If you want to test the statistical significance of a hypothesis, that’s a test. If you want to do simple or multiple linear regression, use a model.

For more detail on working with these objects, see the appropriate topic within this section.