Inferential Statistics

Hypothesis testing (relationship

between 2 or more variables)

We want to make inferences from a

sample to a population.

A random sample allows us to infer from

a sample to a population.
 Inferential Statistics
Significance Tests
Z scores (one sample case)
Difference of means tests
Two sample case (t-test)
Three or more sample case (ANOVA)
Chi-Square
Bi-Variate Correlation (One IV & One DV)
Bi-Variate Regression (One IV & One DV)
Multi-Variate Regression (Two or more IVs & One DV)
 Level of Measurement & Significance Tests

Chi-Square
IV & DV are nominal and/or ordinal
t-test
IV is nominal (group like men & women)
DV is Interval/Ratio (or a scale)
ANOVA
IV is nominal (group with 3 or more categories)
DV is I/R (or a scale)
Regression
IV(s) & DV are I/R (or scales)
IV(s) can be dummy variables
 Which Test Would you Use?
Hr: There is a relationship between:
gender & income (measured in dollars)
race (measured as Black, Latino/a,
Caucasian) and income
religious preference (catholic, protestant)
and attitudes toward abortion (favor,
oppose)
education (measured in years) and income
degree completed (HS or Less & College)
and income
 Chi-Square
Chi-Square: a test of significance used
with cross tabulations of nominal/ordinal
level data.
Example:

Research question: Does political orientation

influence parenting style?

Political orientation: Conservative & Liberal

Parenting style: Permissive & Not Permissive

Why not simply compare the mean difference

between liberals and conservatives on parenting
style?
We are really saying:

Hr: The frequency (proportion) of liberals

who are permissive is not the same as
the frequency of conservatives who are
permissive.

The null (a hypothesis of no difference)

says:

Ho: The frequency (proportion) of liberals

who are permissive is the same as the
frequency of conservatives who are
permissive.
Chi-Square compares the observed
frequencies (from the data in your
sample) to expected frequencies.

Expected frequencies: These are the

frequencies we would expect if the null
were true (if there is no difference
between political view and parenting
style)
Example:

We do a cross tab of political orientation by

parenting style and our observed frequencies
are:

Political Orientation
Liberals Conservatives
Child-rearing
Permissive 5 10
Not permissive 15 10
___ ___
20 20
 Are these differences significant?

Chi-Square test of significance:

Chi-Square = (fo- fe)2 / fe

 Steps

Step 1. We have the observed frequencies

Political Orientation
Liberals Conservatives
Child-rearing
Permissive 5 10
Not permissive 15 10
___ ___
20 20
 Steps

Step 2. Need to calculate the expected frequencies .

Formula:

fe = (row marginal total) (column marginal total)

___________________________________
N
 Expected Frequencies
See board
Step 3. Calculate Chi-Square

See board
Calculated Chi-Square for Political Views by
Parenting Style

Chi Square = 2.66

Df = (r-1)(c-1)

Df = (2-1) (2-1) = 1

Must have a Chi Square of 3.84 at p.=.05

to reject the null hypothesis.

Decision?
 Review Alpha Levels
Alpha level the probability of making a Type I
error

Type I error (reject the null when it is true)

Set alpha level small (.05 or smaller) to minimize

risk.

The larger the sample the smaller the alpha

level should be.
 Chi square is sensitive to N (large Ns
can yield significant results)

So, we use a measure of association

with Chi-square

Measures of association tell us about

the
strength of the relationship
Measures of Association

The type of measure used is determined

by the level of measurement and the
number of categories.

See handout

Interpret GSS Output

 Crosstab
FEELINGS ABOUT PORNOGRAPHY LAWS * HOW FUNDAMENTALIST IS R CURRENTLY Crosstabulation

HOW FUNDAMENTALIST IS R
CURRENTLY
FUNDAME
NTALIST MODERATE LIBERAL Total
FEELINGS ABOUT ILLEGAL TO ALL Count 249 227 150 626
PORNOGRAPHY Expected Count 193.2 242.1 190.7 626.0
LAWS % within HOW
FUNDAMENTALIST 46.3% 33.7% 28.2% 35.9%
IS R CURRENTLY
ILLEGAL UNDER 18 Count 275 431 357 1063
Expected Count 328.1 411.1 323.8 1063.0
% within HOW
FUNDAMENTALIST 51.1% 63.9% 67.2% 61.0%
IS R CURRENTLY
LEGAL Count 14 16 24 54
Expected Count 16.7 20.9 16.5 54.0
% within HOW
FUNDAMENTALIST 2.6% 2.4% 4.5% 3.1%
IS R CURRENTLY
Total Count 538 674 531 1743
Expected Count 538.0 674.0 531.0 1743.0
% within HOW
FUNDAMENTALIST 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
IS R CURRENTLY
 Chi-Square
Chi-Square Tests

Asymp. Sig.
Value df (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 43.721a 4 .000
Likelihood Ratio 43.149 4 .000
Linear-by-Linear
37.689 1 .000
Association
N of Valid Cases 1743
a. 0 cells (.0%) have expected count less than 5. The
minimum expected count is 16.45.
 Measure of Association
Which should we use?
Cramers V = .112