Spearmans rank example

Statistical Analysis
Results from the following Spearmans Ranks will be used to determine whether a correlation
is evident between light intensity and abundance of Yorkshire Fog, in the form of percentage
coverage.
Null Hypothesis
There will be no correlation between Light Intensity and Percentage Coverage.

Alternative Hypothesis
There will be a correlation between Light Intensity and Percentage Coverage.
Spearmans Rank Results:

Light Intensity (lux)

Rank 1

Percentage Coverage (%)

Rank 2

D2

367

63%

16

341

70%

36

373

59%

716

49%

916

50%

1182

40%

16

1689

28%

36

[14]
Using the Equation:
Where: (R) = Spearmans Rank Correlation Co-efficient
D = Difference between Rank 1 and Rank 2
N = Number of Pairs of Observations in the Sample
d2 = Sum of the squared differences between Ranks
Number of Pairs of Observation equals 7, this is due to there being 7 values of light intensity
and 7 for percentage coverage; totalling 14 dividing this by two gives us our value.
The value of D is obtained by subtracting Rank 2 from Rank 1.

E.g. Rank 1 = 2 Rank 2 = 6 thus D = 2-6 =4

Square each value of D. e.g. D1 = 42 = 16
Sum of D2 (the total of each square value of D) = 16+36+4+1+1+16+36 = 110

(R) = 1 (6x110) / 73 7 = -0.9642857143 = - 0.964

(3d.p.)
Critical Value
In this investigation 7 samples were obtained on each transect, as a result it is this number of
samples which will determine the critical value for my product moment correlation coefficient
calculated during my spearman's rank. The critical value is 0.786/-0.786. For the calculated
product moment correlation coefficient to be statistically significant, and accepted with 95%
confidence, it has to be a greater positive value than the positive critical value or a more
negative value than the negative critical value. The value obtained was -0.964 (3d.p). This
means that the statistical relationship between the two variables, percentage coverage and
light intensity, are likely to have had a meaningful one rather than one down to chance, and
that we can accept this with 95% confidence.