RESEARCH STATISTICS

Inferential study reports and generalise

results based on hypothesis testing.

SPSS WORKSHOP
Inferential statistics: Analysing
relationship between variables

Null hy: There is no

significant between

DR CHUA YAN PIAW (UM)

Research hy:There is a
significant between

Prof. Dr Chua Yan Piaw

Institute of Educational Leadership (IEL,UM)
Unit for the Enhancement of Academic Performance (ULPA,UM)
University of Malaya

P < .05

RESEARCH STATISTICS

Result of a test:

Reject Null hy
There is a significant
Fail to reject Null hy
There is no significant

2 Chi-square tests
1. Chi-Square Test for Goodness-of-Fit
- Difference within a group (a variable)

DR CHUA YAN PIAW (UM)

P .05

Analysis of diferences within and

relationship between groups

2. Chi-Square Test of
Independence
- Relationship between 2 groups (2
variables)

Chi-Square Test for Goodness-ofFit

- one nominal or ordinal variable

Concept of analysis
Null Hy: There is no
difference of
frequencies among
the two gender
groups

If The data show

significant
difference, we reject
the null Hy.

Example to indentify whether there

is difference of male and female
participants.
(variable: Gender)
Other examples: Academic major,
education level, etc)

How the test works

The test statistic is calculated by taking an

observed number (O), subtracting the expected
number (E), then squaring this difference. The
larger the deviation from the null hypothesis,
the larger the difference between observed and
expected is.

Squaring the differences makes them all

positive. the more differences between what
you would expect and what you get the bigger
the number.

Assumptions for the Chi-square Test

Data in nominal or ordinal scale.

No cell has an expected frequency

less than 5.

If these assumptions are violated, the

chi-square distribution will give us
misleading results.

How the test works?

Data: 8Chi-square

DR CHUA YAN PIAW (UM)

DR CHUA YAN PIAW (UM)

(1) Race
(2) Gender
(3) Nationality

RESEARCH STATISTICS

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A researcher conducts a study to

identify whether there is difference of
the following variables in terms of
frequency among participants of a
research course.

How the test works?

RESEARCH STATISTICS

RESEARCH STATISTICS

DR CHUA YAN PIAW (UM)

DR CHUA YAN PIAW (UM)

Report
There is no significant diff.
between the number of male
and female participants [2 =
.503, df = 1, p > .05]

Chi-square Test of
Independence

DR CHUA YAN PIAW (UM)

DR CHUA YAN PIAW (UM)

Report the results

RESEARCH STATISTICS

RESEARCH STATISTICS

Exercise:
1. Analyse for the difference
of opinion of the
participants for items of:
2. B section
3. C section
4. D section

Output

Definition

Chi-square Test of Independence

One of the most frequently used

hypothesis test in the social
sciences.

Independence The 1st variable (e.g. Gender)

is not related to the 2nd variable (e.g.
Academic major).

When the two variables are independent, no

relationship between them.

Data Two variables on categorical

data (nominal, ordinal data).

We expect that frequency breakdowns of the

variable similar for all categories /groups.

Null Hypothesis: There is no difference of

academic major between male and female.
Or - There is no relationship between A. Major
and Gender.

Test Results

If p < .05, significant relationship between

the two variables.
Reject null Hy.
As a whole, there is a significant relationship
between the two variables.
If p > .05, no significant relationship between
the two variables.
Fail to reject null Hy.
There is no relationship between the two
variables. They are independent.

Which Cell or Cells Caused the

Difference?
If p < .05, run Post Hoc test to
identify where the difference came
from.

The standardised residual, or the

difference between the observed
frequency and the expected
frequency is a reliable indicator.

The category in a variable is

significant if standardised residual
is outside the range 1.96.

SW318 Social Work Statistics Slide 21

Interpreting Cell Differences in

a Chi-square Test Results

Chi-Square Test of Independence Post

hoc test
The
standardiz
ed residual
(-2.4) was
smaller
than the
critical
value (1.96), male
and female
significantl
y different
for the
level 5.

P < .05.
There is a
significant
relationship
between
Gender and
Marital
status as a
whole.

DR CHUA YAN PIAW (UM)

Standardized residuals positive more subjects in this category than

we expected.
Standardized residuals negative fewer subjects in this category than
we expected.
For the example, less male compared
to female for level 5.

RESEARCH STATISTICS

Interpreting Standardized Residuals

Example:
A researcher conducts a study to
identify difference between male
and female on the item
B1: I can not live without
FACEBOOK anymore.
Two categorical variables: Gender
(nominal) and item B1 (ordinal).

Report

The test result is significant (2 = 161.00, df =

4, p < .05).
The null hypothesis is rejected and there is a
significant difference between males and
females on the item B1 I can not live without
FACEBOOK anymore.
Males out-numbered females for category
strongly disagree (male: n=53, SR=4.7;
female=25. SR = -5.0) and disagree (male:
n=32, SR=3.7; female=0. SR = -3.9).
On contrary, females out-numbered males for
category strongly agree (male: n=0, SR=-3.3;
female=21. SR = 3.5) and agree (male: n=0,
SR=-5.1; female=49. SR = 5.4).

Exercise:
1. Analyse the relationship
between age and the items
in B, C and D sections.
2. Report the results

SW318 Social Work Statistics Slide 29

Summary:Steps in chi-square test of

independence & post hoc test
Chi-Square test and standardized
residuals

Expected cell
counts less than 5?

Yes

No
P < .05?
Yes

Data does
not met
assumptio
n of the
test

No
No
significant
difference

Yes
Report the
significant result

No
No
significant
difference

Use the file zzzExercise for more

practices.

RESEARCH STATISTICS

Standardized residual
for the specified cell
outside 1.96?

Have a nice day.

DR CHUA YAN PIAW (UM)