CHI- SQUARE TEST EXPLANATI ON

Lets say you want to know if there is a difference in the proporti on of men and women who are
left handed and lets say in your sampl e 10% of men and 5% of women were left- handed.
How its Calculated (Without the gory details
1. !ou collect the data. "or e#ampl e$ you ask 1%0 men and 1&0 women which hand they use and
get this'
ACTUAL DATA Left- handed (ight- handed
)en 1 1!"
Women # 1$$
%. *alculate what num+ers of left and right- handers we woul d e#pect ," men and women were the
same.
,n this case$ ," men and women were e-uall y left and right handed$ we woul d ha.e e#pected
these num+ers in our sample of %/0 people (0sk if you want to know how this is done'
EXPECTED I% NO DI%%ERENCE Left- handed (ight- handed
)en "&## 111& $
Women 1!& $ 1'& ##
1. 2he computer calculates a *hi-s-uare (pronounced 3i-s-uare .alue. 2he *hi-s-uare .alue is a
single num+er that adds up all the differences +etween our actual data and the data e#pected if
there is no difference. ,f the actual data and e#pected data (if no difference are identical$ the
*hi-s-uare .alue is 0. 0 +igger difference will gi.e a +igger *hi-s-uare .alue.
&. Look up the *hi-s-uare .alue in a ta+le to see if it is +ig enough to indicate a significant
difference in handedness of males and femal es.

I(te)*)et at i o(
4reater differences +etween e#pected and actual data produce a larger *hi-s-uare .alue. 2he
larger the *hi-s-uare .alue$ the greater the pro+a+i l i t y that there reall y is a significant difference.
With a % +y % ta+le like this (,f you ha.e more than & cells of data in your ta+le$ see your
instructor'
,f the *hi-s-uare .alue is greater than or e-ual to the critical .alue
2here is a significant difference +etween the groups we are studyi ng. 2hat is$ the difference
+etween actual data and the e#pected data (that assumes the groups aren t different is pro+a+l y
too great to +e attri +uted to chance. 5o we conclude that our sample supports the hypothesis of a
difference.
,f the *hi-s-uare .alue is less than the critical .alue
2here is no significant difference . 2he amount of difference +etween e#pected and actual data is
likel y 6ust due to chance. 2hus$ we conclude that our sampl e does not support the hypothesis of a
difference.
,n this e#ampl e$ the critical .alue is 1.7. 2he *hi-s-uare .alue was %.171$ which is less than 1.7.
2hus$ there is no significant difference in handedness +etween men and women in our sampl e.
We conclude that +ased on this sample $ men and women in general seem e-uall y likely to +e left
or right handed.
++,a)(i (-+ +
We ha.e not pro.en anythi ng 888 2hese first samples might +e atypi cal. (epeated sampli ng may
show a significant difference$ or elimi nate the difference we thought we saw. 9ecause of this
uncertai nt y$ we can only say that the hypothesis was supported or not supported.
.)a*/i(- Cate-o)ical Data t/at 0ou a(al01e wit/ t/e C/i- S2ua)e Statistic
Lets say you want to know if there is a difference in the proporti on of men and women who are
left handed and you collect this data'
ACTUAL DATA Left- handed (ight- handed
)en 1 1!"
Women # 1$$
*alculate the % of men that are left- handed and right handed in your study'
1% : 1%0 total men ; 0.10 < 10 ; 10% of men were left- handed
107 : 1%0 ; 0.=0 < 100 ; =0% of men were right- handed
>o the same for women'
? : 1&0 total women ; 0.05 < 100 ; 5% left handed
111 : 1&0 ; 0.=5 < 100 ; =5% right- handed
@lot these percents as +ars'
Ar plot as stacked +ars'
Ar plot as a pie diagram.
@e rcent
Lef t
Band ed
10
%0
10
)en Women
100
@e rcent
50
Lef t- han ded
(ig ht -han ded
)en Women