Spearman Rho

Correlation

Prepared by:
Prof. Dr Bahaman Abu Samah
Department of Professional Development and Continuing Education
Faculty of Educational Studies
Universiti Putra Malaysia
Serdang
Introduction
► A rank ordered correlation
► Purpose – determine relationship between two rank-ordered
variables
► Requirement:
DV – Ordinal
IV – Ordinal
or
DV – Interval/Ratio Data are not
IV – Interval/Ratio normally distributed
What to Cover?
What to Expect
Direction
Describe Strength/
Magnitude
Calculate rs
6 d 2
rs  1 
n (n 2  1)

Hypothesis
Test
 Components
Spearman
of Rho Correlation
Direction
Calculate2 rs
rs  1 
6 d Describe Strength/
n ( n 2  1)
Magnitude
Descriptive
Inferential
Hypothesis
Test:
HO: ρs = 0
HA: ρs ≠ 0
ρs > 0
ρs < 0
Descriptive
Descriptive
► Calculate rs – using the formula
6 d 2
rs  1 
n (n 2  1)

► Describe the nature of relationship between the two

variables in terms of:
• Direction – positive/negative (based on the SIGN +/-)
• Strength or magnitude – using Guildford’s Rule of
Thumb
Ranking Procedure
X Y
16 6
18 8
14 7
18 5
21 6
20 9
24 8
21 6
18 5
Note: Consistencies is important in ranking
Ranking Procedure
X RX Y RY
16 8 8 6 5 6
18 5 6 8 2
2.5
14 9 9 7 4
4
18 6 6 5 8 8.5
21 2 2.5 6 6 6
20 4 4 9 1 1
24 1 1 8 3 2.5
21 3 2.5 6 7 6
18 7 6 5 9 8.5
Scatter Plot/Scattergram
Negative
Y Positive
A
Y  B
Relationship
Relationship 
    
    
  
   
  

  X

  No
  
Y
C
Relationship
 
  
   

   
    

X X
Strength/Magnitude
Correlation Coefficient, r

-1 ≤ rs ≤ 1
Guildford Rule of Thumb
rs Strength of Relationship

< .2 Negligible Relationship

.2 - .4 Low relationship
.4 - .7 Moderate relationship
.7 - .9 High relationship
> .9 Very high relationship
Inferential
5-Steps Hypothesis Test
1 State HO and HA

2 Report rs or calculate test stat.

3 Determine Critical Value

4 Decision

5 Conclusion
1. State Hypotheses
HO: ρs = 0 HA:
ρs ≠ 0
ρs > 0
ρs < 0
2. Calculate Test Statistics
 – For n < 10, simply report the rs
– However for n ≥ 10, calculate t, using Spearman rho, rs in
place of Pearson
r 
correlation, r in the following formula:
t s s

1  rs2
n2

– t ranges from -

http://www.real-statistics.com/correlation/spearmans-rank-
correlation/spearmans-rank-correlation-detailed/
3. Determine Critical Value
• For n < 10, determine the rs-critical
value is based on:
– Hypothesis (One-/Two-tailed)
– Sample size (n)
– Confidence level (α)

Make sure to download this new version

of Spearman Rho table
• For n ≥ 10, determine t-critical
value using t-table
4(a). Decision (n < 10)
– Only two (2) possible decisions.
– Reject or Fail to Reject HO
Manual:
Reject HO: rs cal ≥ rs critical
Criteria Decision
Fail to reject HO: rs cal < rs critical rs cal ≥ rs critical Reject HO
SPSS: rs cal < rs critical Fail to reject HO
Criteria Decision
Reject HO: sig-rs ≤ α sig-rs ≤ α Reject HO
Fail to reject HO: sig-rs > α sig-rs > α Fail to reject HO
4(b). Decision (n ≥ 10)
– Only two (2) possible decisions.
– Reject or Fail to Reject HO
Manual:
Reject HO: tcal ≥ tcritical
Criteria Decision
Fail to reject HO: tcal < tcritical tcal ≥ tcritical Reject HO
SPSS: tcal < tcritical Fail to reject HO
Criteria Decision
Reject HO: sig-t ≤ α sig-t ≤ α Reject HO
Fail to reject HO: sig-t > α sig-t > α Fail to reject HO
5. Conclusion
Reject HO:
Significant relationship between the two
variables (IV – DV)
Fail to reject HO:
No significant relationship between
the two variables (IV – DV)
Example/Exercis
e
Data solicited from a randomly selected sample were used to measure
relationship between working environment and work commitment. EDA
revealed the work commitment data did not meet the assumption of
normality.
Data set:
ID X Y
1. Calculate the appropriate correlation 1 6 15
coefficient 2 5 34
3 8 11
2. Describe the nature of relationship 4 4 9
between the two variables 5 9 17
6 6 12
3. Test the hypothesis on the relationship 7 7 13
at .05 level of significance 8 5 23
9 4 11
10 7 12
11 6 14
12 7 16
Data: 5950 Spearman 2 Class
1. Spearman rho
6 d 2
rs  1 
n (n 2  1)
Data set: Data set:
6 (242.5)
1 X Y rx ry X d Y d2
12 (122  1) 6 15 7 5 6 2 15 4
1,455 5 34 9.5 1 5 8.5 72.25
34
1
1,716 8 11 2 10.5 8 -8.5 72.25
11
 1  .848 4 9 11.5 12 4 -.5 9.25
 .152 9 17 1 3 9 -2 17 4
6 12 7 8.5 6 -1.5 12
2.25
7 13 4 7 7 -3 13 9
2. There is a positive and negligible 5 23 9.5 2 5 7.5 56.25
23
relationship between working 4 11 11.5 10.5 4 1 11 1
7 12 4 8.5 7 -4.5 20.25
12
environment and work commitment 6 14 7 6 6 1 14 1
7 16 4 4 7 0 16 0
TOTAL 242.5
3. Test the hypothesis on the relationship at .05 level of
significance
a. State the null and alternative hypotheses
HO: ρs = 0
HA: ρs ≠ 0
b. Calculate test statistics (t)
rs   s .152  0 .152
t  
1  rs
2
1  .152
2
.09769
n2 12  2 .152

.31255
 .4863
c. Determine critical value critical
t .05  2.228
,10
2

d. Decision
Since tcal (.4863) < tcri (2.228)
 Fail to reject HO

e. Conclusion
There is no significant relationship between work environment
and work commitment at .05 level of significance
Example
A teacher is interested in whether those who do better at English
also do better in maths. To test whether this is the case, the
teacher records the scores of her 10 students in their end-of-year
examinations for both English and Maths. EDA revealed the work
both data did not meet the assumption of normality.

1. Describe the nature of

relationship between
the two variables
2. Test the hypothesis on
the relationship at .05
level of significance
1. Nature of relationship
-- rs = is 0.669. Results indicated that there is a positive and moderate
relationship between both scores (English and Maths)
2. Hypothesis testing

a. State Hypothesis
HO: ρs = 0 HA:
ρs ≠ 0

b. Report test statistics

rs = is 0.669, p = .035
c. Set alpha (significant level) = .05

d. Decision
Since the p-value (.035) is < than significance level (α =
0.05), reject the null hypothesis

d. Conclusion

There is a significant relationship between English

and Maths Scores at .05 level of significance.
APA Reporting
A Spearman's rank-order correlation was run to
determine the relationship between 10
students' English and Maths exam marks.
According to Guildford’s rule of Thumb, there
was a moderate, positive correlation between
English and Maths marks, which was
statistically significant (rs(8) = .669, p = .035).