15- 1

Chi-Square Applications

The major characteristics of the chi-square

distribution are:

It is positively skewed
It is non-negative
There is a family of chi-square distributions

Characteristics of the Chi-Square

Distribution
 15- 15-4
2

df = 3

df = 5
df = 10

χ2
χ2 distribution
 15- 3
Let f0 and fe be the observed and expected
frequencies respectively.
H1: There is a difference H0: There is no difference
between the observed and between the observed and
the expected frequencies. expected frequencies.
 ( f o − f e )2 
The test statistic is: 2
χ = ∑ 
fe

 

The critical value is a chi-square value with (k-1)

degrees of freedom, where k is the number of
categories
Goodness-of-Fit Test: Equal
Expected Frequencies
 15- 4
Goodness-of-fit Test: Equal Expected
Frequencies

The following Day of Week Number Absent

information shows the Monday 120
number of employees Tuesday 45
absent by day of the
Wednesday 60
week at a large a
manufacturing plant. Thursday 90
At the .01 level of Friday 130
significance, is there a Total 445
difference in the
absence rate by day of
the week? Example 1 continued
 15- 5
Step 1:
1 State the null and alternate hypotheses
H0: There is no difference between the
observed and expected frequencies.
H1: There is a difference between the
observed and the expected frequencies

Step 2:
2 Select the level of significance.
This is given in the problem as .01.

Step 3:
3 Select the test statistic.
It is the chi-square distribution.

Example 1 continued
 15- 6

Step 4:
4 Formulate the decision rule.

Assume equal expected frequency as given in the

problem
fe = (120+45+60+90+130)/5=89

The degrees of freedom: (5-1)=4

The critical value of χ2 is 13.28. Reject the null and

accept the alternate if
Computed χ2 > 13.28
or p< .01
EXAMPLE 1 continued
 15- 7

Step Five: Compute the value of chi-square

and make a decision.
Day Frequency Expected (fo – fe)2/fe
Monday 120 89 10.80
Tuesday 45 89 21.75
Wednesday 60 89 9.45
Thursday 90 89 0.01
Friday 130 89 18.89
Total 445 445 60.90

χ2 > 60.9) = .000000000001877 or essentially 0.

The p(χ

Example 1 continued
 15- 8

Because the computed value of chi-square, 60.90, is

greater than the critical value, 13.28,
the p of .000000000001877 < .01, H0 is rejected.

We conclude
that there is a
difference in
the number of
workers absent
by day of the
week.

Example 1 continued
 15- 9
Goodness-of-fit Test: Unequal Expected
Frequencies
The U.S. Bureau of the
Census indicated that 63.9%
of the population is married,
7.7% widowed, 6.9%
divorced (and not re-
married), and 21.5% single
(never been married). A
sample of 500 adults from
the Philadelphia area showed
that 310 were married, 40
widowed, 30 divorced, and
120 single. At the .02
significance level can we
conclude that the
Philadelphia area is different
from the U.S. as a whole? Example 2
 15- 10

Step 4: H0 is rejected if χ2 >9.837, df=3, or if

p < α of .02

Step 3: The test statistic is the chi-square.

Step 2: The significance level given is .02.

Step 1: H0: The distribution has not changed

H1: The distribution has changed.

Example 2 continued
 15- 11

Married: (.639)500 = 319.5

Calculate the
Widowed: (.077)500 = 38.5
expected
Divorced: (.069)500 = 34.5
frequencies
Single: (.215)500 = 107.5
Status f 0 fe (f0 −fe)2 / fe
Married 310 319.5 .2825
Calculate
Widowed 40 38.5 .0584 chi-square
Divorced 30 34.5 .5870 values.
Single 120 107.5 1.4535
Total 500 2.3814
Example 2 continued
 15- 12

Step 5: χ2 = 2.3814, p(χ2 > 2.3814) = .497.

The null hypothesis is not rejected. The

distribution regarding marital status in
Philadelphia is not different from the rest of the
United States.

Example 2 continued
 15- 13

Contingency Table Analysis

Chi-square can be
used to test for a A contingency
relationship between table is used to
two nominal scaled investigate whether
variables, where one two traits or
variable is characteristics are
independent of the related.
other.

Contingency Table
Analysis
 15- 14

Contingency Table Analysis

Each observation is classified according to two criteria.
We use the usual hypothesis testing procedure.
The degrees of freedom are equal to:
(number of rows-1)(number of columns-1).
The expected frequency is computed as:

Expected Frequency = (row total)(column total)

grand total
Contingency table analysis
 15- 15

Contingency Table Analysis

Is there a relationship between
the location of an accident and
the gender of the person
involved in the accident? A
sample of 150 accidents
reported to the police were
classified by type and gender.
At the .05 level of significance,
can we conclude that gender
and the location of the accident
are related? Example 3
 15- 16

Step 1: H0: Gender and location are not related.

H1: Gender and location are related.

Step 2: The level of significance is set at .01.

Step 3: the test statistic is the chi-square distribution.

Step 4: The degrees of freedom equal (r-1)(c-1) or 2.

The critical χ2 at 2 d.f. is 9.21. If computed χ2 >9.21,
or if p < .01, reject the null and accept the alternate.

Step 5: A data table and the following contingency

table are constructed.
 15- 17

Observed frequencies (fo )

Gender Work Home Other Total
Male 60 20 10 90
Female 20 30 10 60
Total 80 50 20 150

The expected frequency for the work-male

intersection is computed as (90)(80)/150=48.
Similarly, you can compute the expected
frequencies for the other cells.
Example 3 continued
 15- 18

Expected frequencies (fe )

Gender Work Home Other Total
Male (80)(90) (50)(90) (20)(90)
150 150 150 90
= 48 =30 =12
Female (80)(60) (50)(60) (20)(60)
150 150 150 60
=32 =20 =8
Total 80 50 20 150

Example 3 continued
 15- 19

χ2: (fo – fe)2/ fe

Gender Work Home Other Total χ2
Male (60-48)2 (20-30)2 (10-12)2 6.667
48 30 12
Female (20-32)2 (30-20)2 (12-10)2 10.000
32 20 10
Total 16.667

Example 3 continued
 15- 20

The p(χ2 > 16.667) = .00024.

Since the χ2 of 16.667 > 9.21, p of .00024 < .01,

reject the null and conclude that there is a
relationship between the location of an accident
and the gender of the person involved.

Example 3 concluded