Statistics

Exercise 35

Calculating Pearson Chi-Square

The Pearson chi-square test (χ2) compares differences between groups on variables measured at the nominal level. The χ2 compares the frequencies that are observed with the frequencies that are expected. When a study requires that researchers compare proportions (percentages) in one category versus another category, the χ2 is a statistic that will reveal if the difference in proportion is statistically improbable.

A one-way χ2 is a statistic that compares different levels of one variable only. For example, a researcher may collect information on gender and compare the proportions of males to females. If the one-way χ2 is statistically significant, it would indicate that proportions of one gender are significantly higher than proportions of the other gender than what would be expected by chance (Daniel, 2000). If more than two groups are being examined, the χ2 does not determine where the differences lie; it only determines that a significant difference exists. Further testing on pairs of groups with the χ2 would then be warranted to identify the significant differences.

A two-way χ2 is a statistic that tests whether proportions in levels of one nominal variable are significantly different from proportions of the second nominal variable. For example, the presence of advanced colon polyps was studied in three groups of patients: those having a normal body mass index (BMI), those who were overweight, and those who were obese (Siddiqui, Mahgoub, Pandove, Cipher, & Spechler, 2009). The research question tested was: “Is there a difference between the three groups (normal weight, overweight, and obese) on the presence of advanced colon polyps?” The results of the χ2 test indicated that a larger proportion of obese patients fell into the category of having advanced colon polyps compared to normal weight and overweight patients, suggesting that obesity may be a risk factor for developing advanced colon polyps. Further examples of two-way χ2 tests are reviewed in Exercise 19.

Research Designs Appropriate for the Pearson χ2

Research designs that may utilize the Pearson χ2 include the randomized experimental, quasi-experimental, and comparative designs (Gliner, Morgan, & Leech, 2009). The variables may be active, attributional, or a combination of both. An active variable refers to an intervention, treatment, or program. An attributional variable refers to a characteristic of the participant, such as gender, diagnosis, or ethnicity. Regardless of the whether the variables are active or attributional, all variables submitted to χ2 calculations must be measured at the nominal level.

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Statistical Formula and Assumptions

Use of the Pearson χ2 involves the following assumptions (Daniel, 2000):

1. Only one datum entry is made for each subject in the sample. Therefore, if repeated measures from the same subject are being used for analysis, such as pretests and posttests, χ2 is not an appropriate test.

2. The variables must be categorical (nominal), either inherently or transformed to categorical from quantitative values.

3. For each variable, the categories are mutually exclusive and exhaustive. No cells may have an expected frequency of zero. In the actual data, the observed cell frequency may be zero. However, the Pearson χ2 test is sensitive to small sample sizes, and other tests, such as the Fisher's exact test, are more appropriate when testing very small samples (Daniel, 2000; Yates, 1934).

The test is distribution-free, or nonparametric, which means that no assumption has been made for a normal distribution of values in the population from which the sample was taken (Daniel, 2000).

The formula for a two-way χ2 is:

Data for Additional Computational Practice for Questions to be Graded

A retrospective comparative study examining the presence of candiduria (presence of Candida species in the urine) among 97 adults with a spinal cord injury is presented as an additional example. The differences in the use of antibiotics were investigated with the Pearson χ2 test (Goetz, Howard, Cipher, & Revankar, 2010). These data are presented in Table 35-2 as a contingency table.

TABLE 35-2

CANDIDURIA AND ANTIBIOTIC USE IN ADULTS WITH SPINAL CORD INJURIES

	Candiduria	No Candiduria	Totals
Antibiotic use	15	43	58
No antibiotic use	0	39	39
Totals	15	82	97

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EXERCISE 35 Questions to Be Graded

Name: _______________________________________________________ Class: _____________________

Date: ___________________________________________________________________________________

Follow your instructor's directions to submit your answers to the following questions for grading. Your instructor may ask you to write your answers below and submit them as a hard copy for grading. Alternatively, your instructor may ask you to use the space below for notes and submit your answers online at http://evolve.elsevier.com/Grove/statistics/ under “Questions to Be Graded.”

1. Do the example data in Table 35-2 meet the assumptions for the Pearson χ2 test? Provide a rationale for your answer.

2. Compute the χ2 test. What is the χ2 value?

3. Is the χ2 significant at α = 0.05? Specify how you arrived at your answer.

4. If using SPSS, what is the exact likelihood of obtaining the χ2 value at least as extreme as or as close to the one that was actually observed, assuming that the null hypothesis is true?

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5. Using the numbers in the contingency table, calculate the percentage of antibiotic users who tested positive for candiduria.

6. Using the numbers in the contingency table, calculate the percentage of non-antibiotic users who tested positive for candiduria.

7. Using the numbers in the contingency table, calculate the percentage of veterans with candiduria who had a history of antibiotic use.

8. Using the numbers in the contingency table, calculate the percentage of veterans with candiduria who had no history of antibiotic use.

9. Write your interpretation of the results as you would in an APA-formatted journal.

10. Was the sample size adequate to detect differences between the two groups in this example? Provide a rationale for your answer.