Re: st: Chi^2 Output Interpretation

[Maarten Buis <maartenlbuis@gmail.com>]

On Thu, Dec 19, 2013 at 3:05 PM, Ngozi Adeleye wrote:
> I have this Chi^2 output but don't know how to interpret the result.
>
> Question: For the following pairs of variables test whether they are
> independent:     Are blacks associated with marriage?
>
> command:                tab black married, chi
>
> Result:   Pearson chi2(1) = 0.2506               Pr = 0.617

This is a test, so the first thing you need to find out is what the
null hypothesis is. In this case it is that there is no association,
or more specificly, that the odds ratio(s) is (are) 1. Your p-value is
larger then any conventional cut-off point (e.g. .10, .05, or .01), so
you failed to reject the hypothesis that there is no association. All
those negations are linguisticly awkward, but they are important. What
you found is an absence of evidence, which is not the same thing as
evidence of absence.

Hope this helps,
Maarten

---------------------------------
Maarten L. Buis
WZB
Reichpietschufer 50
10785 Berlin
Germany

http://www.maartenbuis.nl
---------------------------------
*
*   For searches and help try:
*   http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search
*   http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/resources/statalist-faq/
*   http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/