
For example, sample size for α=0.05 in a two tail model is the same as that for α=0.1 in the one tail model, everything else being the same. For a two tail model, do the same calculation using half the α value. Please Note : In StatsToDo, estimating sample size requirement for comparing two counts uses the one tail model. The advantage of the Whitehead algorithm is the speed of computation, as there is no need for prolonged iterative estimation of probabilities required for the C and E Test

This method is based on trnasforming the counts to a normally distributed value, on the assumption that with large numbers, the Poisson distribution approximates the normal.


The C Test has been used the longest, and quoted by most text books.Users may prefer this test if the sample sizes are large or there are numerous calculations to be done The advantage of the Whitehead algorithm is the speed of computation, as there is no need for repeated estimation of factorial numbers that are necessary in the other two tests.There is only a need to choose when the ample size is small or when the difference between the two groups are minor, so that the statistical significance is ambiguous. Comparing the 3 tests: In most cases, the results from the 3 tests on the same set of data are approximately the same.This test depends on a transformation of the difference into a normally distributed mean and compares the means against the null hypothesis of 0. Whitehead (see reference), in his text book on unpaired sequential analysis, provided algorithms to determine sample sizes for non-sequential methods, and a method for comparing two counts at the end of the sequence.Althought computation for this test is more complex, the advantages are that it is more robust, and the results have greater power More recently, Krishnamoorthy and Thomson (see reference) proposed an improvement on the C Test, where the null hypothesis is that the difference between the two count rates (λ 2 - λ 1) is equal to 0.The test is based on the null hypothesis that the ratio of the two count rates (λ 2 / λ 1) is equal to 1.

