Chi-Square Test For Association Using SPSS Statistics: Assumption #1: Assumption #2

Chi-Square Test for Association using SPSS Statistics
Introduction
The chi-square test for independence, also called Pearson's chi-square test or the chi-square
test of association, is used to discover if there is a relationship between two categorical
variables.
Assumptions
When you choose to analyse your data using a chi-square test for independence, you need to
make sure that the data you want to analyse "passes" two assumptions. If it does not, you
cannot use a chi-square test for independence. These two assumptions are:
o Assumption #1: Your two variables should be measured at an ordinal or nominal

level (i.e., categorical data). .
o Assumption #2: Your two variable should consist of two or more
categorical, independent groups. Example independent variables that meet this
criterion include gender (2 groups: Males and Females), ethnicity (e.g., 3 groups:
Caucasian, African American and Hispanic), physical activity level (e.g., 4 groups:
sedentary, low, moderate and high), profession (e.g., 5 groups: surgeon, doctor, nurse,
dentist, therapist), and so forth.
Example
Educators are always looking for novel ways in which to teach statistics to undergraduates as part of a
non-statistics degree course (e.g., psychology). With current technology, it is possible to present how-to
guides for statistical programs online instead of in a book. However, different people learn in different
ways. An educator would like to know whether gender (male/female) is associated with the preferred
type of learning medium (online vs. books). Therefore, we have two nominal variables: Gender
(male/female) and Preferred Learning Medium (online/books).
Test Procedure in SPSS Statistics
The 13 steps below show you how to analyse your data using a chi-square test for independence in SPSS
Statistics. At the end of these 13 steps, we show you how to interpret the results from your chi-square test
for independence.
 Click Analyze > Descriptives Statistics > Crosstabs... on the top menu, as shown below:
1
 You will be presented with the following Crosstabs dialogue box:
You will end up with a screen similar to the one below:
 Click on the button. You will be presented with the following Crosstabs:

Statistics dialogue box:
2
 Select the Chi-square and Phi and Cramer's V options, as shown below:
 Click the button. Click the button. You will be presented with the
following Crosstabs: Cell Display dialogue box:
 Select Observed from the –Counts– area, and Row, Column and Total from the –Percentages– area,

as shown below:
 Click the button. Click the button.
3
Note: This next option is only really useful if you have more than two categories in one of your
variables, but we will show it here in case you have. If you don't, you can skip to STEP 12.
 You will be presented with the following:
This option allows you to change the order of the values to either ascending or descending.
 Once you have made your choice, click the button.

 Click the button to generate your output.
Output
You will be presented with some tables in the Output Viewer under the title "Crosstabs". The tables of
note are presented below:
The Crosstabulation Table (Gender*Preferred Learning Medium Crosstabulation)
Published with written permission from SPSS Statistics, IBM Corporation.
This table allows us to understand that both males and females prefer to learn using online materials
versus books.
The Chi-Square Tests Table
4
When reading this table we are interested in the results of the "Pearson Chi-Square" row. We can see
here that χ(1) = 0.487, p = .485. This tells us that there is no statistically significant association between
Gender and Preferred Learning Medium; that is, both Males and Females equally prefer online learning
versus books.
The Symmetric Measures Table
Phi and Cramer's V are both tests of the strength of association. We can see that the strength of
association between the variables is very weak.
Bar chart
It can be easier to visualize data than read tables. The clustered bar chart option allows a relevant graph
to be produced that highlights the group categories and the frequency of counts in these groups.

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Chi-Square Test for Association using SPSS Statistics

o Assumption #1: Your two variables should be measured at an ordinal or nominal

Test Procedure in SPSS Statistics

You will end up with a screen similar to the one below:

 Click on the button. You will be presented with the following Crosstabs:

 Select Observed from the –Counts– area, and Row, Column and Total from the –Percentages– area,

 Click the button. Click the button.

 You will be presented with the following:

 Once you have made your choice, click the button.

The Crosstabulation Table (Gender*Preferred Learning Medium Crosstabulation)

Published with written permission from SPSS Statistics, IBM Corporation.

The Chi-Square Tests Table

The Symmetric Measures Table

Published with written permission from SPSS Statistics, IBM Corporation.

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