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Statistics Resources

This guide contains all of the ASC's statistics resources. If you do not see a topic, suggest it through the suggestion box on the Statistics home page.

Test for Association

This Chi-Square test is used to determine if there's a relationship between two categorical variables. Think of this as a non-parametric version of a correlation analysis. It can also be called the Test for Independence.

Assumptions

  1. Both variables must be nominal or ordinal.
  2. Each variable must have at least 2 independent groups.

Running Chi-Square Test of Association in SPSS - Method 1

NOTE: these steps are for raw data, not summated frequencies (two-way table)

  1. Analyze > Descriptive Statistics > Crosstabs
  2. Move one variable into the "Row(s)" box and the other variable into the "Column(s)" box
    • variable designation is up to the researcher
  3. Click on the "Statistics" button to select additional statistics to include with the output
    • ensure "Chi-square" is checked
    • click the "Continue" to return to the main dialog box
  4. Click on the "Cells" button
    • ensured Observed, Row, Column, and Total boxes are all checked
    • click the "Continue" button to return to the main dialog box
  5. Click OK to run the test

Running Chi-Square Test of Association in SPSS - Method 2

NOTE: these steps are for summated frequencies (two-way table), not raw data

  1. Ensure you have 3 "variables" created so that all cells from the table are represented
    • Categorical variable 1 - enter this data so that each entry appears once per number of categories in variable 2
      • ie - A, A, A, B, B, B, C, C, C - if there are 3 levels to the other variable
    • Categorical variable 2 - enter this data so that each level is paired with each level of variable 1
      • ie - 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3 - so reading across the rows shows A1, A2, A3, etc.
    • Frequency - enter the number of people in each cell
      • ie. How many people were in group A and group 1?
  2. Data > Weight Cases
    • Select "Weight cases by" radio button
    • move the Frequency variable into the box
    • click OK to return to the data sheet
  3. Analyze > Descriptive Statistics > Crosstabs
  4. Move one variable into the "Row(s)" box and the other variable into the "Column(s)" box
    • variable designation is up to the researcher
  5. Click on the "Statistics" button to select additional statistics to include with the output
    • ensure "Chi-square" is checked
    • click the "Continue" to return to the main dialog box
  6. Click OK to run the test

Interpreting the Output

  • [variable]*[variable] Crosstabulation (the variable names will reflect the variables you entered for analysis)
    • This table presents the counts (and percentages if selected) for each cell
  • Chi-Square Tests
    • provides the results of the chi-square test
    • used to make a decision about the null hypothesis
  • Symmetric Measures (if selected)
    • this table provides measures of association and their significance

Reporting Results in APA Style

A chi-square test of association was conducted to determine if there is a relationship between gender and swimming abilities. There was sufficient evidence to suggest that women are more likely to swim than men, χ2(1, N = 101) = 8.8, p < .05.

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