Chi-squared test for the relationship between two categorical variables - overview
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Chi-squared test for the relationship between two categorical variables | Friedman test | Paired sample $t$ test |
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Independent /column variable | Independent/grouping variable | Independent variable | |
One categorical with $I$ independent groups ($I \geqslant 2$) | One within subject factor ($\geq 2$ related groups) | 2 paired groups | |
Dependent /row variable | Dependent variable | Dependent variable | |
One categorical with $J$ independent groups ($J \geqslant 2$) | One of ordinal level | One quantitative of interval or ratio level | |
Null hypothesis | Null hypothesis | Null hypothesis | |
H0: there is no association between the row and column variable More precisely, if there are $I$ independent random samples of size $n_i$ from each of $I$ populations, defined by the independent variable:
| H0: the population scores in any of the related groups are not systematically higher or lower than the population scores in any of the other related groups
Usually the related groups are the different measurement points. Several different formulations of the null hypothesis can be found in the literature, and we do not agree with all of them. Make sure you (also) learn the one that is given in your text book or by your teacher. | H0: $\mu = \mu_0$
Here $\mu$ is the population mean of the difference scores, and $\mu_0$ is the population mean of the difference scores according to the null hypothesis, which is usually 0. A difference score is the difference between the first score of a pair and the second score of a pair. | |
Alternative hypothesis | Alternative hypothesis | Alternative hypothesis | |
H1: there is an association between the row and column variable More precisely, if there are $I$ independent random samples of size $n_i$ from each of $I$ populations, defined by the independent variable:
| H1: the population scores in some of the related groups are systematically higher or lower than the population scores in other related groups | H1 two sided: $\mu \neq \mu_0$ H1 right sided: $\mu > \mu_0$ H1 left sided: $\mu < \mu_0$ | |
Assumptions | Assumptions | Assumptions | |
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Test statistic | Test statistic | Test statistic | |
$X^2 = \sum{\frac{(\mbox{observed cell count} - \mbox{expected cell count})^2}{\mbox{expected cell count}}}$
Here for each cell, the expected cell count = $\dfrac{\mbox{row total} \times \mbox{column total}}{\mbox{total sample size}}$, the observed cell count is the observed sample count in that same cell, and the sum is over all $I \times J$ cells. | $Q = \dfrac{12}{N \times k(k + 1)} \sum R^2_i - 3 \times N(k + 1)$
Here $N$ is the number of 'blocks' (usually the subjects - so if you have 4 repeated measurements for 60 subjects, $N$ equals 60), $k$ is the number of related groups (usually the number of repeated measurements), and $R_i$ is the sum of ranks in group $i$. Remember that multiplication precedes addition, so first compute $\frac{12}{N \times k(k + 1)} \times \sum R^2_i$ and then subtract $3 \times N(k + 1)$. Note: if ties are present in the data, the formula for $Q$ is more complicated. | $t = \dfrac{\bar{y} - \mu_0}{s / \sqrt{N}}$
Here $\bar{y}$ is the sample mean of the difference scores, $\mu_0$ is the population mean of the difference scores according to the null hypothesis, $s$ is the sample standard deviation of the difference scores, and $N$ is the sample size (number of difference scores). The denominator $s / \sqrt{N}$ is the standard error of the sampling distribution of $\bar{y}$. The $t$ value indicates how many standard errors $\bar{y}$ is removed from $\mu_0$. | |
Sampling distribution of $X^2$ if H0 were true | Sampling distribution of $Q$ if H0 were true | Sampling distribution of $t$ if H0 were true | |
Approximately the chi-squared distribution with $(I - 1) \times (J - 1)$ degrees of freedom | If the number of blocks $N$ is large, approximately the chi-squared distribution with $k - 1$ degrees of freedom.
For small samples, the exact distribution of $Q$ should be used. | $t$ distribution with $N - 1$ degrees of freedom | |
Significant? | Significant? | Significant? | |
| If the number of blocks $N$ is large, the table with critical $X^2$ values can be used. If we denote $X^2 = Q$:
| Two sided:
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n.a. | n.a. | $C\%$ confidence interval for $\mu$ | |
- | - | $\bar{y} \pm t^* \times \dfrac{s}{\sqrt{N}}$
where the critical value $t^*$ is the value under the $t_{N-1}$ distribution with the area $C / 100$ between $-t^*$ and $t^*$ (e.g. $t^*$ = 2.086 for a 95% confidence interval when df = 20). The confidence interval for $\mu$ can also be used as significance test. | |
n.a. | n.a. | Effect size | |
- | - | Cohen's $d$: Standardized difference between the sample mean of the difference scores and $\mu_0$: $$d = \frac{\bar{y} - \mu_0}{s}$$ Cohen's $d$ indicates how many standard deviations $s$ the sample mean of the difference scores $\bar{y}$ is removed from $\mu_0.$ | |
n.a. | n.a. | Visual representation | |
- | - | ![]() | |
n.a. | n.a. | Equivalent to | |
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Example context | Example context | Example context | |
Is there an association between economic class and gender? Is the distribution of economic class different between men and women? | Is there a difference in depression level between measurement point 1 (pre-intervention), measurement point 2 (1 week post-intervention), and measurement point 3 (6 weeks post-intervention)? | Is the average difference between the mental health scores before and after an intervention different from $\mu_0 = 0$? | |
SPSS | SPSS | SPSS | |
Analyze > Descriptive Statistics > Crosstabs...
| Analyze > Nonparametric Tests > Legacy Dialogs > K Related Samples...
| Analyze > Compare Means > Paired-Samples T Test...
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Jamovi | Jamovi | Jamovi | |
Frequencies > Independent Samples - $\chi^2$ test of association
| ANOVA > Repeated Measures ANOVA - Friedman
| T-Tests > Paired Samples T-Test
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Practice questions | Practice questions | Practice questions | |