F-test is based on F-distribution and is used to compare the variance of the two independent samples. This test is also used in the context of analysis of variance (ANOVA) for judging the significance of more than two sample means at one and the same time. It is also used for judging the significance of multiple correlation coefficients. Test statistic, F, is calculated and compared with its probable value (to be seen in the F-ratio tables for different degrees of freedom for greater and smaller variances at a specified level of significance) for accepting or rejecting the null hypothesis.
All these tests are based on the assumption of normality i.e., the source of data is considered to be normally distributed. In some cases the population may not be normally distributed, yet the tests will be applicable on account of the fact that we mostly deal with samples and the sampling distributions closely approach normal distributions.
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