Chi-squared test.

Dear Professor Mean, Can the Chi-square test be used for anything besides categorical data?

The Chi-square test exists in many different forms. It is useful for testing whether a categorical variable conforms to a set of hypothesized probabilities. It can also test whether two categorical variables are independent. Both of these tests involve comparing expected counts to observed counts.

There is also a Chi-square test for examining whether a sample variance is equal to a hypothesized value. For this test, you look at the ratio of the sample variance to the hypothesized variance.

Finally many nonparametric tests rely on the Chi-square distribution as an approximation when you don't have exact tables available.

This webpage was written by Steve Simon on 1999-09-03, edited by Steve Simon and Linda Foland, and was last modified on 2008-07-08. Send feedback to ssimon at cmh dot edu or click on the email link at the top of the page. Category: Ask Professor Mean, Category: Unusual data