Chi-squared test: Everything you need to know about it

Excelsior
5 min readJan 17, 2022

--

Introduction

If you are about to embark on or are currently studying statistics and probability, at some point you will be introduced to the chi-squared test. The chi-squared test is used to measure how well your data fits a certain distribution; or in other words, how well it fits an assumption that your data was drawn from a specific population.

Chi-squared is a popular statistical test used in inferential statistics. The statistic was named after the Greek letter “X” . Chi-squared test is used to examine how well the sample data matches what is expected from the population from which the sample came.

What is a Chi-Squared test?

The chi-squared test is a way to check if something fits a specific probability distribution. It’s often used to determine whether the difference between two populations is large enough that it could have happened by chance alone. This means you can use chi-squared to find out if things follow certain probability distributions like a normal distribution or an exponential distribution or to check if the difference between two groups is large enough it could happen just by chance.

A chi-squared test is used to determine whether a particular trend could be attributed to random chance or if there was something systematic causing the trend. For example, let’s say you’ve noticed that 80% of your sales are coming from only 2 out of 50 of your widgets. You might wonder if it is because of something systematic with those 2 widgets.

Perhaps they are higher quality, priced lower, or maybe those are the only ones that have been featured on a popular blog. To see if that is the case, you would run a chi-squared test on the data to see if it confirms your hypothesis, or shows no significant difference between the different groups.

Information about Chi-Squared and how it is used?

Chi-Squared is an extremely useful concept to understand in the world of statistics. I know it can be a little challenging to wrap your mind around in the beginning, but just think about it like this: if you didn’t have Chi-Squared and other hypothesis tests, you wouldn’t be able to conclude whether two data sets were significantly different. You wouldn’t be able to compare two diets or two weight loss methods you wouldn’t even be able to tell if there was a significant difference between treatments for a drug after conducting a clinical trial.

When should I perform a chi-squared test?

A chi-squared test can be used when you have categorical data and want to see if there is a significant relationship or association between one or more variables. The most common use of chi-squared tests in marketing research is in 2 x 2 contingency tables comparing the results of two groups on some variable (respondents with different attitudes, respondents exposed to different ads, etc.).

There are two main uses for chi-squared tests:

1. To test if an expected frequency is above or below the expected value. This can be used to identify anomalies in a data set, such as inconsistencies in information provided by different sources of data.

2. To compare two sets of data and determine which has a higher degree of variation, based on the given measure of variation within each set of data.

How to Calculate Chisquare?

Chi-squared tests determine if an observed phenomenon has a non-random probability of occurring. An example of this would be to test in a survey if the answers are truly independent or not. The formula is used to calculate the relationship between the observed and expected results. It’s typically used in quality assurance, but it’s also useful to understand while studying statistics.

What are the parameters for a Chi-Squared test?

The Chi-Squared test is used to determine whether a given data set has a significant probability of coming from the population or not. This is done by comparing the data set against the expected distribution for that population. If there is a high enough disparity, then this indicates that the data set does not come from that population and warrants further investigation.

How to perform a chi-squared test on your data?

If you’re performing a Chi-Squared test, we can help. A Chi-Squared distribution is similar to a normal distribution, except it is skewed to the right. The number of degrees of freedom will determine how wide or narrow your final graph appears.

A chi-squared test is an inferential statistic used to determine if the observed data fit with a certain expected probability distribution. For example, you can use a chi-squared test to determine if the number of heads in 100 coin tosses is statistically greater than or less than 50 heads. Sample size calculations are done using the chi-squared distribution as well as other distributions.

Take away notes

Are you looking to learn the chi-squared test with excelsior? Chi-Squared Test is a statistical hypothesis test that is used to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to conclude that two populations are different. It can be used as an alternative to the independent samples t-Test.

Excelsior provides courses in statistics, data science, and machine learning to help students gain the skills they need to succeed in the modern workplace. Their courses are taught by experienced professionals who know what employers are looking for. They customize their materials so that students can learn at their own pace, even if they have a lot of other commitments.

If this sounds like something you’re interested in then contact us today! We would love to show you how we can help you reach your goals by providing you with the knowledge and skills that employers want.

Contact us now!

--

--

Excelsior

We are committed to provide quality education, training, and career upgradation to our excelsiorites