Wilcoxon and CLMM both fail badly on small-sample Likert data
IanArawjo · x · 2026-10-19
Adding context to his advice, Ian Arawjo reports that in his forthcoming HCI methods textbook he tried two alternatives on the same small-sample data — nonparametric CIs via Wilcoxon and CLMMs — and both fail horribly because they cannot fit such small sample sizes.
This reinforces his recommendation that paired t-intervals, while conservative, remain the safer and more practical choice for reporting uncertainty in small usability studies.
Related event: Paired t intervals beat CLMM for small-sample Likert data, researcher says(3 posts)→
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