Wading Through the Data Swamp:
Program Evaluation 201
Supplements
The t-Test of Differences Between Means:
Independent Samples t-Test for Pretest Data
Step 8: Calculate the degrees of freedom.
The formula for degrees of freedom is n - 1. For our example, the group of participants consists of 50 members, so the degrees of freedom for this group = 50 - 1 = 49. Likewise, n - 1 or 50 - 1 gives 49 degrees of freedom for the comparison group. Once the degrees of freedom are calculated, we need to add them: 49 + 49 = 98.








