Question

Iam trying to run a spss test but im not sure which one to run. If i am testing females against a variable do i run a independant sample t test or an ANOVA?

Answer 1

The test you choose depends on what you are trying to measure.

You run a t-test when you are trying to compare the mean and standard deviation between two groups. If you run a t-test, you are trying to find evidence for a significant difference between your sample groups. t- tests are usually used when you have a small sample size and you don't know the variance of the normal distribution of both samples.

You run the ANOVA when you want to find out if the means of both groups are statistically significant. Then you will have to compare the p-value to assess the null hypothesis. You usually use the ANOVA when you are comparing three or more groups.

Based on the information in your question, a t-test would be more suitable, considering the fact that you are trying to compare differences between two groups.