Safe Wrapper for stats::t.test()

This is a robust wrapper around stats::t.test that prevents errors from interrupting execution. Instead of failing, it returns a structured result containing NA values and an informative error message.

This is particularly useful in pipelines, simulations, or batch analyses where occasional invalid inputs (e.g., constant vectors, insufficient observations) would otherwise stop execution.

Usage

safe_t_test(x, y = NULL, ...)

Arguments

x

a (non-empty) numeric vector of data values.

y

an optional (non-empty) numeric vector of data values.

...

further arguments to be passed to or from methods. For the formula method, this includes arguments of the default method, but not paired.

Value

A list: either the standard htest object from stats::t.test, or (on error) a list with NA statistics, sample mean(s) in estimate, and an error_text field containing the error message.

Details

When stats::t.test succeeds, the result is returned unchanged. If an error occurs, a list is returned mimicking key components of a htest object. Any NaN estimates are converted to NA_real_.

Examples

# Standard usage
t.test(1:10, 11:20)
#> 
#> 	Welch Two Sample t-test
#> 
#> data:  1:10 and 11:20
#> t = -7.3855, df = 18, p-value = 7.503e-07
#> alternative hypothesis: true difference in means is not equal to 0
#> 95 percent confidence interval:
#>  -12.844662  -7.155338
#> sample estimates:
#> mean of x mean of y 
#>       5.5      15.5 
#> 
safe_t_test(1:10, 11:20)
#> 
#> 	Welch Two Sample t-test
#> 
#> data:  1:10 and 11:20
#> t = -7.3855, df = 18, p-value = 7.503e-07
#> alternative hypothesis: true difference in means is not equal to 0
#> 95 percent confidence interval:
#>  -12.844662  -7.155338
#> sample estimates:
#> mean of x mean of y 
#>       5.5      15.5 
#> 

# Example triggering failure (zero variance)
if (FALSE) stats::t.test(rep(10, 5), rep(10, 5)) # \dontrun{}
safe_t_test(rep(10, 5), rep(10, 5))
#> $statistic
#> [1] NA
#> 
#> $parameter
#> [1] NA
#> 
#> $p.value
#> [1] NA
#> 
#> $estimate
#> mean_x mean_y 
#>     10     10 
#> 
#> $conf.int
#> [1] NA NA
#> 
#> $method
#> [1] "t-test (failed)"
#> 
#> $data.name
#> [1] "x and y"
#> 
#> $error_text
#> [1] "data are essentially constant"
#>