A Comparison of the Chi-Square Test for 1 df and the Fisher Exact Test

Abstract

The chi-square test was compared with the Fisher exact test using Ns ranging from 3 to 69. Contrary to expectations, there was closer agreement between the two tests with the smaller Ns. The chi-square test gave very good approximations of the true probabilities--especially when the two groups being compared were nearly equal in sample size--but only if it was used as a one- tailed test. If the groups being compared had very unequal sample sizes (ratios of 7:1 and greater), the chi-square test sometimes gave questionable results. A table of one-tailed probabilities is provided.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 1972
Accession Number
AD0751822

Entities

People

  • Anders Sweetland

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

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DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Chi Square Test
  • Communists
  • Computer Programs
  • Computers
  • Continuity
  • Frequency
  • Linguistics
  • Prisoners
  • Prisoners Of War
  • Probability
  • Social Sciences
  • Symmetry

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  • Regression Analysis.