The Statistical Imagination

Chapter 13:
Nominal Variables: The
Chi-Square and Binomial
Distributions
2008 McGraw-Hill

The Chi-Square Test

Chi-Square is a test for a relationship
between two nominal variables
Calculations are made using a crosstabulation (or crosstab) table, which
reports frequencies of joint
occurrences of attributes
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Crosstab Tables
Cross-tabulation or crosstab tables
are designed to compare the
frequencies of two nominal/ordinal
variables at once

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Sample Crosstab Table

Spent night on streets in last 2 weeks
by gender among homeless persons
On streets
Yes
No
Total

Male
28
79
107

Female
Total
10 38
44 123
54 161

2008 McGraw-Hill

Reading a Crosstab Table

The number in a cell is the frequency of
joint occurrences, where a joint occurrence
is the combination of categories of the two
variables for a single individual
From the cell, look up then look to the left
E.g., in the table above, the joint occurrence
of male and on-street is 28, the number in
the sample who are both male and spent a
night on the streets
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Reading a Crosstab Table (cont.)

The numbers in the margins on the

right side and the bottom present
marginal totals, the total number of
subjects in a category
The grand total (n, the sample size) is
presented in the bottom right-hand
corner
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Crosstab Tables and

the Chi-Square Test
For the chi-square test, the categories
of the independent variable (X) go in
the columns of the table, and those of
the dependent variable (Y), in the rows
E.g.: Is gender a good predictor of who
among homeless persons is likely to
spend a night on the streets?

2008 McGraw-Hill

Calculating Expected
Frequencies
In addition to the observed joint
frequencies, the chi-square test involves
calculating the expected frequency of each
table cell
The expected frequency of a cell is equal
to the column marginal total for the cell
(look down) times the row marginal total for
cell (look to the right) divided by the grand
total
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Using Expected Frequencies

to Test the Hypothesis
The expected frequencies are those that
would occur if there is no relationship
between the two nominal/ordinal variables
The chi-square statistic measures the gap
between expected and observed
frequencies
If there is no relationship, then the expected
and observed frequencies are the same
and chi-square computes to zero
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The Chi-Square Statistic

The sampling distribution is generated using the
chi-square equation:
2 = [(O-E)2/ E]
where O is the observed frequency of a cell,
and E is the expected frequency
Chi-square tells us whether the summed squared
differences between the observed and expected
cell frequencies are so great that they are not
simply the result of sampling error
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When to Use the

Chi-Square Statistic
1) There is one population with a
representative sample from it
2) There are two variables, both of a
nominal/ordinal level of
measurement
3) The expected frequency of each cell
in the crosstab table is at least five
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Features of the Chi-Square

Hypothesis Test
Step 1. The H0 states that there is no
relationship between the two
variables. When this is the case, chisquare calculates to a value of zero,
give or take some sampling error
This null hypothesis asserts no
difference in observed and expected
frequencies
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Features of the Chi-Square

Hypothesis Test (cont.)
Step 2. The sampling distribution is the chisquare distribution. It describes all
possible outcomes of the chi-square
statistic with repeated sampling when there
is no relationship between X and Y
Degrees of freedom are determined by the
number of columns and rows in the
crosstab table: df = (r -1) (c -1)
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Features of the Chi-Square

Hypothesis Test (cont.)
Step 4. The test effects are the differences
between expected and observed
frequencies
The test statistic is the chi-square statistic
The p-value is obtained by comparing the
calculated chi-square value to the critical
values of the chi-square distribution in
Statistical Table G of Appendix B
2008 McGraw-Hill

The Existence of a Relationship

for the Chi-Square Test
Existence: Test the H0 that 2 = 0;
that is, there is no relationship
between X and Y
If the H0 is rejected, a relationship
exists

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Direction and Strength of a

Relationship for Chi-Square
Direction: Not applicable (because
the variables are nominal level)
Strength: These measures exist but
are seldom reported because they
are prone to misinterpretation

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Nature of a Relationship for

the Chi-Square Test
Nature: Report the differences
between the observed and expected
cell frequencies for a couple of
outstanding cells
Calculate column percentages for
selected cells
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Column and Row

Percentages
A column percentage is a cells
frequency as a percentage of the
column marginal total
A row percentage is a cells frequency
as a percentage of the row marginal
total

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Chi-Square as a Difference
of Proportions Test
The chi-square test is frequently used to
compare proportions of categories of a
nominal/ordinal variable for two or more
groups of a second nominal/ordinal
variable
Thus, it may be viewed as a difference
of proportions test as illustrated in
Figure 13-2 in the text
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The Binomial Distribution

The binomial distribution test is a small
single-sample proportions test. Contrast it
to the large single-sample proportions test
of Chapter 10
The test hinges on mathematically
expanding the binomial distribution
equation, (P + Q)n

2008 McGraw-Hill

When to Use the

Binomial Distribution
1) There is only one nominal variable and it is
dichotomous, with P = p [of success] and Q
= p [of failure]
2) There is a single, representative sample
from one population
3) Sample size is such that [(psmaller)(n)] < 5,
where psmaller = the smaller of Pu and Qu
4) There is a target value of the variable to
which we may compare the sample
proportion
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Expansion of the Binomial

Distribution Equation
Expansion of the binomial distribution
equation, (P + Q)n, provides the sampling
distribution for dichotomous events. That
is, the equation describes all possible
sampling outcomes and the probability of
each, where there are only two possible
categories of a nominal variable
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An Example of an
Expanded Binomial Equation
The equation reveals, for example, the
possible outcomes of the tossing of 4 coins
P = p [heads] = .5; Q = p [tails] = .5; n = 4
coins
(P + Q)4 = P4 + 4P3Q1 + 6P2Q2 + 4P1Q3 + Q4
Add the coefficients to get the total number of
possible outcomes = 16
The probability of 3 heads and 1 tails, is the
coefficient of P3Q1 over the sum of coefficients
= 4 over 16 = .25
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Pascals Triangle
Pascals Triangle provides a shortcut
method for expanding the binomial
equation
It provides the coefficients for small
samples and allows a quick computation of
the probabilities of all possible outcomes
when P and Q are equal to .5
See Table 13-7 in the text
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Features of the
Binomial Distribution Test
Step 1. H0: Pu = a target value
Step 2. The sampling distribution is
an expanded binomial equation for
the given sample size

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Features of the Binomial

Distribution Test (cont.)
Step 4. The effect is the observed
combination of successes and failures,
which corresponds to a term in the equation
(e.g., 3 heads and 1 tails, is represented by
the term 4P3Q1)
The test statistic is the expanded binomial
equation
The p-value is taken directly from the
equation (not from a statistical table)
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Statistical Follies:
Statistical Power and Sample Size
For a given level of significance,
statistical power is a test statistics
probability of not incurring a Type II
error (i.e., unknowingly making the
incorrect decision of failing to reject a
false null hypothesis)
Low statistical power can result from
having too small a sample size
2008 McGraw-Hill