A t-test is a statistical method used to compare the means of two groups to assess whether there is a significant difference between them. It’s commonly employed when dealing with small sample sizes and assumes that the data follows a normal distribution. The t-test generates a t-statistic, and a low p-value associated with this statistic suggests that the means of the two groups are significantly different. There are different types of t-tests, such as the independent samples t-test (for comparing means of two independent groups) and the paired samples t-test (for comparing means of two related groups).
ANOVA, on the other hand, is used when comparing means among three or more groups. It assesses whether there are statistically significant differences in the means of the groups by analyzing the variance within and between groups. ANOVA is applicable when dealing with multiple independent groups or multiple levels of a categorical variable. The F-statistic generated by ANOVA is used to determine whether the group means are significantly different. If ANOVA indicates significance, post-hoc tests may be employed to identify which specific groups differ.