Chapter 10.

2:
The Chi-Square Test for Independence of Association
THE CHI-SQUARE TEST

The chi-squared statistic (χ2 ) is used to test for independence of association.

This test establishes whether two categorical random variables are statistically
related (i.e. dependent or independent of each other).
Statistical independence means that the outcome of one random variable in no
way influences (or is influenced by) the outcome of a second random variable.
THE CHI-SQUARE STATISTIC

The chi-square test statistic

X (fo − fe )2
χ2 =
fe

Where:
fo = Observed frequency
fe = Expected frequency
ith row total × j th column total
Expected frequency = fe =
Sample size
THE CHI-SQUARE TEST

Testing procedure is given as follows:

Define the null and alternative hypotheses
H0 : There is no association between the variables
(i.e. the variables are statistically independent)
H1 : There is an association between the variables
(i.e.the variables are not independent).
Determine the region of acceptance of the null hypothesis :
The chi-squared hypothesis test is only an upper-tailed test, hence only a
single critical χ2 - limit is required.
To find the critical χ2 - limit, both a level of significance, (α), and degrees
of freedom are needed.
degrees of freedom (df) = (r-1)(c-1)
where r = number of rows in the cross-tabulation table
c = number of columns in the cross-tabulation table
THE CHI-SQUARE TEST

The decision rule is stated as follows:

Accept H0 if χ2stat ≤ χ2limit

Reject H0 if χ2stat > χ2limit
THE CHI-SQUARE TEST

Compute the sample test statistic

X (fo − fe )2
χ2 =
fe

Write the conclusion