Statistical Tests Commonly Used in Research Manuscripts

1. Shapiro–Wilk Test

Used to assess whether continuous data are normally distributed.

Conditions / Requirements

• Continuous numerical variables
• Small to moderate sample sizes
• Independent observations

Examples

1. Testing whether BMI follows normal distribution
2. Testing whether blood-pressure values are normally distributed
3. Testing whether cholesterol levels are normally distributed

2. Kolmogorov–Smirnov Test

Used to assess normality of data distribution.

Conditions / Requirements

• Continuous variables
• Larger sample sizes
• Independent observations

Examples

1. Assessing normality of glucose levels
2. Assessing normality of age distribution