title: Strange Data: When the Numbers Just Aren't Normal.
abstract: Many statistical tests assume that the populations from which we draw our data samples roughly follow a given probability distribution. Here, I review what these assumptions mean, why they are important, and how to deal with situations where the assumptions are not met.
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX. Electronic address: dajupite@utmb.edu.
authors.forename: Daniel C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Jupiter
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D016011:Normal Distribution; D011336:Probability; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
keywords: Kruskal-Wallis test; Wilcoxon test; nonparametric statistical test; parametric statistical test