AI engineering glossary · Statistics inference
What is Mann-Whitney U test?
Mann-Whitney U test (also called Wilcoxon rank-sum test): A rank-based test for whether values in one independent group tend to be larger than in another. It replaces the two-sample t-test when data are skewed or ordinal. Because it uses ranks, extreme values have little pull on the result.
Mann-Whitney U test: an example
Compare app-rating scores from Android and iOS users, both on a 1 to 5 scale, without assuming normality.
Related terms
More Statistics inference terms
- Margin of error
- Maximum a posteriori estimation
- Minimum detectable effect
- Multiple comparisons problem
- Non-parametric test
- Novelty effect
- Null hypothesis
- One-tailed and two-tailed tests
Where you learn it
Mann-Whitney U test is part of the AI Engineering Program, which teaches it with notes, a hands-on lab and an exam. The first lesson is free.