Cochran's Q test - overview
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Cochran's Q test | McNemar's test | $z$ test for a single proportion |
You cannot compare more than 3 methods |
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Independent/grouping variable | Independent variable | Independent variable | |
One within subject factor ($\geq 2$ related groups) | 2 paired groups | None | |
Dependent variable | Dependent variable | Dependent variable | |
One categorical with 2 independent groups | One categorical with 2 independent groups | One categorical with 2 independent groups | |
Null hypothesis | Null hypothesis | Null hypothesis | |
H0: $\pi_1 = \pi_2 = \ldots = \pi_I$
Here $\pi_1$ is the population proportion of 'successes' for group 1, $\pi_2$ is the population proportion of 'successes' for group 2, and $\pi_I$ is the population proportion of 'successes' for group $I.$ | 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:
| H0: $\pi = \pi_0$
Here $\pi$ is the population proportion of 'successes', and $\pi_0$ is the population proportion of successes according to the null hypothesis. | |
Alternative hypothesis | Alternative hypothesis | Alternative hypothesis | |
H1: not all population proportions are equal | 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:
| H1 two sided: $\pi \neq \pi_0$ H1 right sided: $\pi > \pi_0$ H1 left sided: $\pi < \pi_0$ | |
Assumptions | Assumptions | Assumptions | |
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Test statistic | Test statistic | Test statistic | |
If a failure is scored as 0 and a success is scored as 1:
$Q = k(k - 1) \dfrac{\sum_{groups} \Big (\mbox{group total} - \frac{\mbox{grand total}}{k} \Big)^2}{\sum_{blocks} \mbox{block total} \times (k - \mbox{block total})}$ Here $k$ is the number of related groups (usually the number of repeated measurements), a group total is the sum of the scores in a group, a block total is the sum of the scores in a block (usually a subject), and the grand total is the sum of all the scores. Before computing $Q$, first exclude blocks with equal scores in all $k$ groups. | $X^2 = \dfrac{(b - c)^2}{b + c}$
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. | $z = \dfrac{p - \pi_0}{\sqrt{\dfrac{\pi_0(1 - \pi_0)}{N}}}$
Here $p$ is the sample proportion of successes: $\dfrac{X}{N}$, $N$ is the sample size, and $\pi_0$ is the population proportion of successes according to the null hypothesis. | |
Sampling distribution of $Q$ if H0 were true | Sampling distribution of $X^2$ if H0 were true | Sampling distribution of $z$ if H0 were true | |
If the number of blocks (usually the number of subjects) is large, approximately the chi-squared distribution with $k - 1$ 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 $b$. | Approximately the standard normal distribution | |
Significant? | Significant? | Significant? | |
If the number of blocks is large, the table with critical $X^2$ values can be used. If we denote $X^2 = Q$:
| For test statistic $X^2$:
| Two sided:
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n.a. | n.a. | Approximate $C\%$ confidence interval for $\pi$ | |
- | - | Regular (large sample):
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Equivalent to | Equivalent to | Equivalent to | |
Friedman test, with a categorical dependent variable consisting of two independent groups. |
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Example context | Example context | Example context | |
Subjects perform three different tasks, which they can either perform correctly or incorrectly. Is there a difference in task performance between the three different tasks? | Does a tv documentary about spiders change whether people are afraid (yes/no) of spiders? | Is the proportion of smokers amongst office workers different from $\pi_0 = 0.2$? Use the normal approximation for the sampling distribution of the test statistic. | |
SPSS | SPSS | SPSS | |
Analyze > Nonparametric Tests > Legacy Dialogs > K Related Samples...
| Analyze > Nonparametric Tests > Legacy Dialogs > 2 Related Samples...
| Analyze > Nonparametric Tests > Legacy Dialogs > Binomial...
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Jamovi | Jamovi | Jamovi | |
Jamovi does not have a specific option for the Cochran's Q test. However, you can do the Friedman test instead. The $p$ value resulting from this Friedman test is equivalent to the $p$ value that would have resulted from the Cochran's Q test. Go to:
ANOVA > Repeated Measures ANOVA - Friedman
| Frequencies > Paired Samples - McNemar test
| Frequencies > 2 Outcomes - Binomial test
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Practice questions | Practice questions | Practice questions | |