PHI-COEFFICIENT

By: Mark Angelo Venus

Jonabel Gomez
Phi-Coefficient
• A measure of the degree of association between two binary variables.
• It is called the Yule phi or Mean Square Contingency Coefficient and is used for contingency tables
when:
At least one variable is a nominal variable.
Both variables are dichotomous variables.
• Two binary variables are considered positively associated if most of the data falls along the diagonal
cells (i.e., a and d are larger than b and c). In contrast, two binary variables are considered negatively
associated if most of the data falls off the diagonal.
Formula for the PHI-COEFFICIENT
HOW TO INTERPRET A PHI
COEFFICIENT
• Similar to a Pearson Correlation Coefficient, a Phi Coefficient takes on values between -1 and 1 where
 -1 indicates a perfectly negative relationship between the two variables.
 0 indicates no association between the two variables.
 1 indicates a perfectly positive relationship between the two variables
• You can use the general rule of thumb for correlation coefficient in Phi-Coefficient
 - 1.0 to – 0.7 strong negative association.
 -0.7 to -0.3 weak negative association.
 -0.3 to +0.3 little or no association.
 +0.3 to +0.7 weak positive association.
 +0.7 to + 1.0 strong positive association.
• In general, the further away a Phi Coefficient is from zero, the stronger the relationship between the two variables.
• Notice that Phi compares the product of the diagonal cells (a*d) to the product of the off-diagonal cells
(b*c). The denominator is an adjustment that ensures that Phi is always between -1 and +1.

X- X+ TOTAL

Y- A B E (A+B)

Y+ C D F (C+D)

TOTAL G (A+C) H (B+D) n

 EXAMPLE:

Find phi for the following contingency table:

POLITICIAN
S
TRUTHFUL NOT TOTAL
TRUTHFUL
SCIENTIST TRUTHFUL 14 10 24
S
NOT 6 13 19
TRUTHFUL
TOTAL 20 23 43
Solution: