Patent Document ID: 8050888
Application ID: 12878426

Base Claim:
1. A method of automatically applying hypothesis testing to at least one data set, the method comprising using a computer to carry out the steps of: providing a plurality of statistical tests applicable to the at least one data set, the tests having a variety of characteristics and associated conventions; seeking an indication as to at least one characteristic of the data set; selecting a test from among the plurality of tests based on the indications and associated conventions; providing a notification of the nature of the selected test, the indications and established conventions; characterizing the data set, including establishing test criteria, selecting an appropriate reference test value depending on the established test criteria; and eliciting an indication of a description of the data of interest; constructing a null hypothesis statement and an alternative hypothesis statement; receiving an indication of a significance level, conducting the selected test including calculating the values of the test statistic, reference values, confidence bounds and p-values, comparing the calculated p-value to the indicated significance level, comparing the value of the test statistic to one or more reference values, and assessing the confidence bounds in view of the null hypothesis statement; stating a conclusion based on the selected test and the indicated test criteria, the conclusion including whether to reject the null hypothesis or not reject the null hypothesis, and the basis for the conclusion.

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Claim 3:
3. The method set forth in claim 1 wherein determining the test includes seeking an indication as to the time ordered nature of the data set including generating a notification of process stability, seeking an indication of the nature of data as being attribute data or continuous data and, if the indication is that the data are attribute data, then seeking an indication as to the number of samples from which the data are drawn, an indication of sample size, and seeking an indication of normality of the data, wherein, if the indication is that the data are continuous, then seeking an indication as to the number of samples from which the data are drawn, an indication of sample size and an indication as to whether the data are normal, not normal, or if the distribution is unknown, wherein, if the indication is that the data are one of not normal or unknown, then providing notifications to use one of a normality test to determine normality, non-parametric tests, and data transformation functions.