Which statistical method is designated for two independent samples of continuous data?

The independent t-test is specifically designed to compare the means of two independent groups when the data is continuous and normally distributed. This statistical method is particularly useful in determining whether there is a statistically significant difference between the means of these two samples. Each sample is unrelated, meaning that the observations in one group do not affect those in the other, which aligns perfectly with the conditions of the independent t-test.

In contrast, the pooled t-test, while similar in purpose, assumes equal variances in the two groups, which is not always valid in practice. The Wilcoxon signed rank test is used for paired samples rather than independent samples, and the Friedman test is employed for comparing three or more related groups, making them unsuitable for handling two independent samples of continuous data. Therefore, the independent t-test is the correct method for this scenario, as it addresses the specific needs of comparing means from two separate groups.