Under what condition is a permutation test for comparing two populations valid?

A) The populations have the same mean under the null hypothesis.
B) The populations are identical under the null hypothesis.
C) The two populations have the same standard deviation under both the null and alternative hypotheses.
D) Under all circumstances-the permutation test does not require any particular assumptions and hence is very powerful.

Permutation Test

A non-parametric statistical test that assesses the significance of the difference between groups by rearranging the data points among the groups many times and calculating the differences for each rearrangement.

Null Hypothesis

A statement suggesting that there is no significant difference or effect, and any observed difference is due to chance.

Identical Populations

Populations in statistical studies that have exactly the same characteristics, distributions, and parameters.