Inference for Two-Way Tables

(Chi-Square Test for Homogeneity)

Section 14.2 – Part 1

• A chi-square test of homogeneity tests
whether it is reasonable to believe that,
when several different populations are
broken down into the same categories,
they have the same proportion of
members in each category. Such
populations are called homogeneous.
 Example: Paper Towels
• Justine decides to test the dry strength
of three brands of paper towels. She
cannot take a true random sample, but
she believes that it is reasonable to
assume that all paper towels of the
same brand are pretty much identical.
So she buys one roll of each of the
three brands and uses the first 25
towels from each.
• Justine stretches each towel tightly,
drops a golf ball from a height of 12
inches, and records whether the golf
ball goes through the towel. Justine
tests the 75 towels in random order
because she knows that it will be
impossible to hold her testing procedure
completely constant. The next display
shows the results from Justine’s tests.
 Brand
Brainy Mounty Steve Total
Towel Yes 18 7 5 30
Breaks? No 7 18 20 45
Total 25 25 25 75

This is called a two-way table because each

outcome is classified in two ways, according to
the type of paper towel and whether or not it
breaks. Disregarding the labels and totals, it
has two rows and three columns.
 We Need a New Test…
• Are the results from Justine’s three
samples consistent with the hypothesis
that the percentage of towels that
break is the same for each brand?
What You Need Before You Test
• Formula for the expected count, E
(row total )(column total )
E
grand total
• As before:
(O  E ) 22
 
22

• df = (r - 1)(c - 1)
Chi-Square Test for Homogeneity
• Name of test: 2 Test for
Homogeneity
• State the Hypotheses:
H0: The distribution of the response
variable is the same in all populations
of interest.
Ha: These distributions are not all the
same.
• Check Conditions:
S. Separate, independent random
samples
T. All expected counts are at least 5
(or all are ≥ 1 and no more than
20% are < 5)

• State the df, compute the test statistic

and the P -value

• Interpretation in context
 Family Fulfillment
• In November 1997, the Gallup Organization
released the results of a poll on family values
for different nations of the world. Results
from each country were based on samples of
1000 adults in each country. One of the
questions asked was this: “For you
personally, do you think it is necessary or not
necessary to have a child at some point in
your life in order to feel fulfilled?”
 Table of Observed Counts

Country
US India Mexico Canada Germany Total
Yes 460 930 610 590 490 3080
Response No 510 60 380 370 450 1770
Undecided 30 10 10 40 60 150
Total 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 5000