Marginal Homogeneity test / Stuart-Maxwell test - overview
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Marginal Homogeneity test / Stuart-Maxwell test | McNemar's test | Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test |
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Independent variable | Independent variable | Independent/grouping variable | |
2 paired groups | 2 paired groups | One categorical with 2 independent groups | |
Dependent variable | Dependent variable | Dependent variable | |
One categorical with $J$ independent groups ($J \geqslant 2$) | One categorical with 2 independent groups | One of ordinal level | |
Null hypothesis | Null hypothesis | Null hypothesis | |
H0: for each category $j$ of the dependent variable, $\pi_j$ for the first paired group = $\pi_j$ for the second paired group.
Here $\pi_j$ is the population proportion in category $j.$ | Let's say that the scores on the dependent variable are scored 0 and 1. Then for each pair of scores, the data allow four options:
Other formulations of the null hypothesis are:
| If the dependent variable is measured on a continuous scale and the shape of the distribution of the dependent variable is the same in both populations:
Formulation 1:
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Alternative hypothesis | Alternative hypothesis | Alternative hypothesis | |
H1: for some categories of the dependent variable, $\pi_j$ for the first paired group $\neq$ $\pi_j$ for the second paired group. | The alternative hypothesis H1 is that for each pair of scores, P(first score of pair is 0 while second score of pair is 1) $\neq$ P(first score of pair is 1 while second score of pair is 0). That is, the probability that a pair of scores switches from 0 to 1 is not the same as the probability that a pair of scores switches from 1 to 0. Other formulations of the alternative hypothesis are:
| If the dependent variable is measured on a continuous scale and the shape of the distribution of the dependent variable is the same in both populations:
Formulation 1:
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Assumptions | Assumptions | Assumptions | |
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Test statistic | Test statistic | Test statistic | |
Computing the test statistic is a bit complicated and involves matrix algebra. Unless you are following a technical course, you probably won't need to calculate it by hand. | $X^2 = \dfrac{(b - c)^2}{b + c}$
Here $b$ is the number of pairs in the sample for which the first score is 0 while the second score is 1, and $c$ is the number of pairs in the sample for which the first score is 1 while the second score is 0. | Two different types of test statistics can be used; both will result in the same test outcome. The first is the Wilcoxon rank sum statistic $W$:
Note: we could just as well base W and U on group 2. This would only 'flip' the right and left sided alternative hypotheses. Also, tables with critical values for $U$ are often based on the smaller of $U$ for group 1 and for group 2. | |
Sampling distribution of the test statistic if H0 were true | Sampling distribution of $X^2$ if H0 were true | Sampling distribution of $W$ and of $U$ if H0 were true | |
Approximately the chi-squared distribution with $J - 1$ degrees of freedom | If $b + c$ is large enough (say, > 20), approximately the chi-squared distribution with 1 degree of freedom. If $b + c$ is small, the Binomial($n$, $P$) distribution should be used, with $n = b + c$ and $P = 0.5$. In that case the test statistic becomes equal to $b$. | Sampling distribution of $W$:
Sampling distribution of $U$: For small samples, the exact distribution of $W$ or $U$ should be used. Note: if ties are present in the data, the formula for the standard deviations $\sigma_W$ and $\sigma_U$ is more complicated. | |
Significant? | Significant? | Significant? | |
If we denote the test statistic as $X^2$:
| For test statistic $X^2$:
| For large samples, the table for standard normal probabilities can be used: Two sided:
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n.a. | Equivalent to | Equivalent to | |
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| If there are no ties in the data, the two sided Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test is equivalent to the Kruskal-Wallis test with an independent variable with 2 levels ($I$ = 2). | |
Example context | Example context | Example context | |
Subjects are asked to taste three different types of mayonnaise, and to indicate which of the three types of mayonnaise they like best. They then have to drink a glass of beer, and taste and rate the three types of mayonnaise again. Does drinking a beer change which type of mayonnaise people like best? | Does a tv documentary about spiders change whether people are afraid (yes/no) of spiders? | Do men tend to score higher on social economic status than women? | |
SPSS | SPSS | SPSS | |
Analyze > Nonparametric Tests > Legacy Dialogs > 2 Related Samples...
| Analyze > Nonparametric Tests > Legacy Dialogs > 2 Related Samples...
| Analyze > Nonparametric Tests > Legacy Dialogs > 2 Independent Samples...
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n.a. | Jamovi | Jamovi | |
- | Frequencies > Paired Samples - McNemar test
| T-Tests > Independent Samples T-Test
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Practice questions | Practice questions | Practice questions | |