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The chi-square test of independence is used to determine whether two or more samples of cases differ on a nominal level variable. A Pearson correlation is used to determine the relationship between two continuous variables

The chi-square test of independence is used to determine whether two or more samples of cases differ on a nominal level variable.

The chi-square test of independence is used to determine whether two or more samples of cases differ on a nominal level variable.

Application of the Pearson Correlation and ChiSquare Test

The chisquare test of independence is used to determine whether two or more samples of cases differ on a nominal level variable. A Pearson correlation is used to determine the relationship between two continuous variables. Both the chisquare test of independence and correlation are widely used in the analysis of public health data.

The purpose of this assignment is to practice calculating and interpreting the Pearson correlation coefficient and a chisquare test of independence. After analyzing the data, communicate the results of one of the tests in a PowerPoint presentation. Refer to the Using and Interpreting Statistics: A Practical Text for the Behavioral, Social, and Health Sciences textbook and instructional videos for assistance completing this assignment.

Part 1

Use SPSS “Health Behavior Data Set” and complete the following:

  1. Conduct a Pearson correlation to determine the relationship between age and annual income.
  2. Conduct a chisquare test to determine the relationship between sex and smoking status.
  3. Export the SPSS output for the Pearson correlation and chi-square tests.

Part 2

Create an 8-10-slide PowerPoint presentation to discuss the findings of the chi-square or correlation. Create a voice-over or a video presentation that is 5-7 minutes in length. Your slides should be shown on the screen as you present. Loom may be used (you must use your GCU email address to access all of the features for Loom). Other options are Zoom or the recording feature in PowerPoint. Include an additional slide for the link with your selected method of presentation at the beginning and an additional slide for references at the end.
Include the following.

Include the following:

  1. Explain why the statistical test is most appropriate for analyzing the data and whether the assumptions were met.
  2. What are the null and alternative hypotheses for this specific scenario?
  3. What is the critical value? What is the decision rule?
  4. Per the output, what is the test statistic and p-value?
  5. How do you interpret the results? (What was done? What was found? What does it mean? What suggestions are there for the creation of a health promotion intervention?)

General Requirements

Submit the SPSS exported output (Part 1) and the PowerPoint presentation (Part 2) to the assignment dropbox.

While APA style is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and documentation of sources should be presented using APA formatting guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. A link to the LopesWrite technical support articles is located in Class Resources if you need assistance.

Expert Answer and Explanation

Part 1 – Write Up

GET DATA

/TYPE=XLSX

/FILE=’C:\Users\PRIMERA\Downloads\PUB-550-RS-T2-T3-T4-HealthBehaviorDataset.xlsx’

/SHEET=name ‘Data’

/CELLRANGE=FULL

/READNAMES=ON

/DATATYPEMIN PERCENTAGE=95.0

/HIDDEN IGNORE=YES.

EXECUTE.

DATASET NAME DataSet2 WINDOW=FRONT.

CORRELATIONS

/VARIABLES=Age Annual_Income

/PRINT=TWOTAIL NOSIG FULL

/MISSING=PAIRWISE.

Correlations

Notes
Output Created 20-APR-2025 05:01:17
Comments
Input Active Dataset DataSet2
Filter <none>
Weight <none>
Split File <none>
N of Rows in Working Data File 32
Missing Value Handling Definition of Missing User-defined missing values are treated as missing.
Cases Used Statistics for each pair of variables are based on all the cases with valid data for that pair.
Syntax CORRELATIONS

/VARIABLES=Age Annual_Income

/PRINT=TWOTAIL NOSIG FULL

/MISSING=PAIRWISE.

Resources Processor Time 00:00:00.03
Elapsed Time 00:00:00.02

 

Correlations
Age Annual_Income*
Age Pearson Correlation 1 .139
Sig. (2-tailed) .463
N 30 30
Annual_Income* Pearson Correlation .139 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .463
N 30 30

CORRELATIONS

/VARIABLES=Age Annual_Income

/PRINT=TWOTAIL NOSIG FULL

/CI CILEVEL(95)

/MISSING=PAIRWISE.

Correlations

Notes
Output Created 20-APR-2025 05:03:48
Comments
Input Active Dataset DataSet2
Filter <none>
Weight <none>
Split File <none>
N of Rows in Working Data File 32
Missing Value Handling Definition of Missing User-defined missing values are treated as missing.
Cases Used Statistics for each pair of variables are based on all the cases with valid data for that pair.
Syntax CORRELATIONS

/VARIABLES=Age Annual_Income

/PRINT=TWOTAIL NOSIG FULL

/CI CILEVEL(95)

/MISSING=PAIRWISE.

Resources Processor Time 00:00:00.03
Elapsed Time 00:00:00.02

 

Confidence Intervals

Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) 95% Confidence Intervals (2-tailed)a
Lower Upper
Age – Annual_Income* .139 .463 -.233 .476

 

a. Estimation is based on Fisher’s r-to-z transformation.

 

CROSSTABS

/TABLES=Sex BY Smoker

/FORMAT=AVALUE TABLES

/CELLS=COUNT

/COUNT ROUND CELL.

Crosstabs

Notes
Output Created 20-APR-2025 05:06:59
Comments
Input Active Dataset DataSet2
Filter <none>
Weight <none>
Split File <none>
N of Rows in Working Data File 32
Missing Value Handling Definition of Missing User-defined missing values are treated as missing.
Cases Used Statistics for each table are based on all the cases with valid data in the specified range(s) for all variables in each table.
Syntax CROSSTABS

/TABLES=Sex BY Smoker

/FORMAT=AVALUE TABLES

/CELLS=COUNT

/COUNT ROUND CELL.

Resources Processor Time 00:00:00.03
Elapsed Time 00:00:00.01
Dimensions Requested 2
Cells Available 524245

 

Case Processing Summary

Cases
Valid Missing Total
N Percent N Percent N Percent
Sex * Smoker 32 100.0% 0 0.0% 32 100.0%

 

CROSSTABS

/TABLES=Sex BY Smoker

/FORMAT=AVALUE TABLES

/STATISTICS=CHISQ

/CELLS=COUNT EXPECTED

/COUNT ROUND CELL.

Crosstabs

Notes
Output Created 20-APR-2025 05:13:30
Comments
Input Active Dataset DataSet2
Filter <none>
Weight <none>
Split File <none>
N of Rows in Working Data File 32
Missing Value Handling Definition of Missing User-defined missing values are treated as missing.
Cases Used Statistics for each table are based on all the cases with valid data in the specified range(s) for all variables in each table.
Syntax CROSSTABS

/TABLES=Sex BY Smoker

/FORMAT=AVALUE TABLES

/STATISTICS=CHISQ

/CELLS=COUNT EXPECTED

/COUNT ROUND CELL.

Resources Processor Time 00:00:00.02
Elapsed Time 00:00:00.03
Dimensions Requested 2
Cells Available 524245

 

Case Processing Summary

Cases
Valid Missing Total
N Percent N Percent N Percent
Sex * Smoker 32 100.0% 0 0.0% 32 100.0%

 

Sex * Smoker Crosstabulation

Smoker Total
No Yes
Sex Count 2 0 0 2
Expected Count .1 1.1 .8 2.0
Female Count 0 8 7 15
Expected Count .9 8.4 5.6 15.0
Male Count 0 10 5 15
Expected Count .9 8.4 5.6 15.0
Total Count 2 18 12 32
Expected Count 2.0 18.0 12.0 32.0

 

Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymptotic Significance (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 32.593a 4 .000
Likelihood Ratio 15.520 4 .004
N of Valid Cases 32

 

a. 5 cells (55.6%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is .13.

Part 2 – Powerpoint Presentation

Welcome! This presentation applies the chi-square test of independence to public health data. The analysis explores the relationship between sex and smoking status using SPSS and the Health Behavior Dataset. The goal is to determine if smoking behavior is statistically related to sex. This type of analysis helps public health professionals target interventions and better understand population health behaviors. The chi-square test is ideal for nominal-level variables, such as gender and smoking status, which are categorical in nature. Let’s review the test rationale, hypotheses, results, and implications for health promotion strategies.

The chi-square test of independence was chosen because both variables—sex and smoking status—are nominal. This test helps us determine whether there’s a statistically significant relationship between these two variables (Miola & Miot, 2022). Specifically, we ask whether the distribution of smokers is different between males and females. This test is widely used in public health because many important variables are categorical (Miola & Miot, 2022). Understanding this relationship can guide targeted health communication or prevention campaigns, such as smoking cessation efforts based on gender patterns.

This slide presents the Pearson correlation between age and annual income. The correlation coefficient is r = .139, indicating a very weak positive relationship. The p-value = .463, which is greater than .05, means the result is not statistically significant. Therefore, we fail to reject the null hypothesis.

Before conducting the analysis, we verified key assumptions:

  • Both age and annual income are continuous variables.
  • A scatterplot showed no strong linear trend, confirming the weak correlation.
  • We checked for normal distribution, which appeared approximately normal given the small sample size.
  • There were no extreme outliers that could distort the correlation.

The SPSS output table shown here displays all essential values: the correlation, significance level, and sample size (N = 30). Overall, there’s no meaningful linear relationship in this sample.

The hypotheses are clearly defined. The null hypothesis (H₀) assumes that smoking status is independent of sex. In contrast, the alternative hypothesis (H₁) suggests that there is a significant association between these variables. Our goal is to analyze the data and determine whether there is enough evidence to reject the null hypothesis in favor of the alternative. A statistically significant result would indicate that sex influences smoking behavior in this dataset.

To determine if our test is statistically significant, we compare the test statistic to the critical value (Aguinis et al., 2021). At α = 0.05 and df = 4, the critical chi-square value is 9.49. If our computed test statistic is greater than 9.49, we reject the null hypothesis. This method gives us a clear decision rule for evaluating the presence of a relationship between sex and smoking.

According to the SPSS output, the Pearson Chi-square value is 32.593 with a p-value of .000, which is well below our alpha level of .05. This indicates strong evidence to reject the null hypothesis. However, it’s important to note that 5 cells (55.6%) had expected counts below 5, which slightly violates chi-square assumptions and could impact the accuracy of results. Despite this, the p-value is extremely low, indicating a strong association between sex and smoking status, as seen in the table in this slide.

The test revealed a statistically significant association between sex and smoking behavior. The crosstab shows that females were more likely to be non-smokers or light smokers, while males had higher counts in the moderate smoker category. This gender difference suggests the need for tailored health messaging and targeted interventions. For instance, anti-smoking campaigns might be designed differently for men and women, focusing on their specific motivations and behavioral trends.

These findings have important implications for public health. Acknowledging the differences in smoking behavior between men and women allows for more personalized health education and prevention efforts. For example, anti-smoking campaigns could use messages that resonate more with male audiences who show higher usage. In schools, gender-targeted programming may improve engagement. However, due to the small sample size and assumption violations, further studies with larger samples are needed for generalization.

This analysis had some limitations, particularly the small sample size and multiple cells with expected frequencies below five. These issues can affect the test’s accuracy. While our p-value was significant, we should interpret the findings cautiously. For future studies with small datasets, Fisher’s Exact Test may be more appropriate. Still, the results highlight a pattern worth investigating in a larger sample or through more robust statistical techniques.

To conclude, this analysis demonstrated a significant relationship between sex and smoking status using a chi-square test of independence. Despite a few limitations, the findings highlight the importance of considering gender in smoking prevention efforts. The chi-square test remains a vital tool in public health for analyzing categorical data and guiding intervention planning. Future research with a larger and more balanced sample will help validate these findings and further inform effective health policy.

References

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FAQs

What is a chi-square test of independence used for?

A chi-square test of independence is used to determine whether there is a significant relationship between two categorical variables. It assesses if the distribution of one variable is independent of the distribution of the other. For example, it can be used to test whether gender is related to preference for a type of healthcare service. If the p-value is less than the significance level (e.g., 0.05), it suggests a statistically significant association between the variables.

Is the chi-square test nominal or ordinal data?

The chi-square test is primarily used for nominal data, which consists of categories without any inherent order (e.g., gender, blood type, or yes/no responses). However, it can also be applied to ordinal data (which has a ranked order) if the data are treated as categorical rather than numerical. The test evaluates whether there is a significant association between categorical variables in a contingency table.

What is the chi-square test used to test for?

The chi-square test is used to test for a relationship or association between categorical variables. It determines whether the differences between observed and expected frequencies in a contingency table are due to chance or indicate a statistically significant association. Common uses include:

  • Chi-square test of independence: Tests if two categorical variables are related.

  • Chi-square goodness-of-fit test: Tests if a sample distribution matches an expected distribution.

It is widely used in public health, social sciences, and market research to analyze survey and observational data.

What is the chi-square test used for testing the independence between numerical variables?

The chi-square test is not used for testing independence between numerical variables. It is specifically designed for categorical variables, where data are grouped into categories (e.g., male/female, smoker/non-smoker).

If you want to test the relationship between numerical variables, other statistical methods are more appropriate, such as:

  • Correlation analysis (e.g., Pearson’s r) – to assess the strength and direction of a linear relationship.

  • Regression analysis – to explore predictive relationships between variables.

For numerical data, it’s important to use tests suited to continuous variables rather than the chi-square test, which is meant for frequencies in categories.