A z-score and a t score are both used in hypothesis testing.

T-score vs. z-score: When to use a t score

The general rule of thumb for when to use a t score is when your sample:

 Has a sample size below 30,

 Has an unknown population standard deviation.

You must know the standard deviation of the population and your sample size should be above
30 in order for you to be able to use the z-score. Otherwise, use the t-score.
T-Score vs. Z-Score: What’s the Difference?

T-Score vs. Z-Score: Overview

A z-score and a t score are both used in hypothesis testing. Few topics in elementary statistics
cause more confusion to students than deciding when to use the z-score and when to use the t
score. Generally, in elementary stats and AP stats, you’ll use a z-score in testing more often than
a t score.

T-score vs. z-score: When to use a t score

The general rule of thumb for when to use a t score is when your sample:

 Has a sample size below 30,

 Has an unknown population standard deviation.

You must know the standard deviation of the population and your sample size should be above
30 in order for you to be able to use the z-score. Otherwise, use the t-score.
When to use a t-score vs. z-score.

The above chart is based on (from my experience), the “rule” you’re most likely to find in an
elementary statistics class. That said, this is one of those rules that isn’t set in stone, so you
should always check with your textbook/teacher to make sure they aren’t suggesting
something different.

In real life though, it’s more common just to use the t-distribution as we usually don’t know
sigma (SoSci, 1999).

“When a sample has more than 30 observations, the normal distribution can be used in place of
the t distribution.” (Meier et.al, p. 191).

Note the use of the word can in the above quote; The use of the t-distribution is theoretically
sound for all sample sizes, but you *can* choose to use the normal for sample above 30.

T-Score vs. Z-Score: Z-score

Technically, z-scores are a conversion of individual scores into a standard form. The conversion
allows you to more easily compare different data; it is based on your knowledge about the
population’s standard deviation and mean. A z-score tells you how many standard deviations
from the mean your result is. You can use your knowledge of normal distributions (like the 68 95
and 99.7 rule) or the z-table to determine what percentage of the population will fall below or
above your result.

The z-score is calculated using the formula:

z = (X-μ)/σ

Where:

 σ is the population standard deviation and

 μ is the population mean.

The z-score formula doesn’t say anything about sample size; The rule of thumb applies that your
sample size should be above 30 to use it.

T-Score vs. Z-Score: T-score

Like z-scores, t-scores are also a conversion of individual scores into a standard form. However,
t-scores are used when you don’t know the population standard deviation; You make an
estimate by using your sample.

T = (X – μ) / [ s/√(n) ].

Where:
  s is the standard deviation of the sample.

If you have a larger sample (over 30), the t-distribution and z-distribution look pretty much the
same. Therefore, you can use either. That said, if you know σ, it doesn’t make much sense to use
a sample estimate instead of the “real thing”, so just substitute σ into the equation in place of s:

T = (X – μ) / [ σ/√(n) ].

This makes the equation identical to the one for the z-score; the only difference is you’re looking up the
result in the T table, not the Z-table. For sample sizes over 30, you’ll get the same result.

References
Meier et. al. (2014). Applied Statistics for Public and Nonprofit Administration. Cengage
Learning.
SoSci. (1999). Article posted on Vermont Tech website. Retrieved 11/20/2016 from
https://simon.cs.vt.edu/SoSci/converted/T-Dist/.

Z Score vs T Score

Z score and T score are used in statistics and are referred to as standard scores. They indicate how
many SD an observation in a data is above or below the mean. Most commonly used in a z-test, z-
score is similar to T score for a population. It is similarities between the two tests that confuse
students. However, there are differences and this article will highlight these differences to remove
doubts from the minds of the readers.

When you know the population standard deviation and population mean for a population, it is
better to use Z test. When you do not have all this information and instead have sample data, it is
prudent to go for T test. In Z test, you compare a sample to a population. On the other hand, T test
can be performed for a single sample, two distinct samples that are different and not related or for
two or more samples that are matching. When the sample is large (n greater than 30), Z- score is
normally calculated but T-score is preferred when the sample is less than 30. This is because you
do not get a good estimate of the standard deviation of the population with a small sample and this
is why a T score is better.

One place where Z scores are very common is hospitals where bone mass density of a person is
interpreted using these scores. Bone density machines used different kinds of units which is why
it became a common practice to report the results of bone density tests in terms of Z scores. A
person who has a Z score of zero and is at 50th percentile is considered to be average.

These Z scores are also used by pediatricians to make sense of height of kids. If a kid is at 5th
percentile which is Z score of –i.65, he or she is considered to be short for his age.
Z score = (patient’s BMD- expected BMD)/SD

It is easy to calculate T score once you know the Z score of a person and the formula is as follows

Z score= T score – reference T score

Z-Score

A common statistical way of standardising data on one scale so a comparison can take place is
using a z-score. The z-score is like a common measure for all types of data. Each z-score
corresponds to a point in a normal distribution.

To find a z-score for a specific result in a group of results:

First, calculate the Mean for the group. Then calculate the Standard Deviation. Finally, calculate
the z-score using the formula: (student result - Mean) / Standard Deviation.

Stanine

Stanine scores are used in education to compare student performance over a normal distribution.

Stanine scores convert raw test scores to a one-digit whole number to simplify test
interpretation.

Typically, stanine scores between 4 and 6 are considered average, scores of 3 or less are below
average while scores of 7 or greater are above average.