Solved – How to test if two sets of vectors are statistically different from each other

statistical significanceVector Fields

I have a set of 2-dimensional vector observations (like to wind vectors), and I have separated them into subsamples based on whether an event that is independent of the observations occurred or not. I know how to test whether one (scalar) sample is statistically different from another, but I haven't been able to figure out how to test wind vectors. How do I test whether the winds in subsample 1 are statistically different from those in subsample two? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Best Answer

Based on the additional comment you gave to @whuber, it seems that you are looking for an extension of t-test/ANOVA type methods to situations where you have a vector of outcomes per individual (i.e. multiple outcomes per individual, and in particular in the wind vector example, you have a vector with two components for each individual observation ). If interest lies in comparing whether a vector of means from one sample is different from a vector of means from another sample, you can use MANOVA which assumes multivariate normality for the outcomes. Further details on assumptions, mathematical formulation, examples and interpretation can be found here: https://onlinecourses.science.psu.edu/stat505/node/162