Friedman test - overview
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Friedman test | Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test | Chi-squared test for the relationship between two categorical variables |
You cannot compare more than 3 methods |
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Independent/grouping variable | Independent/grouping variable | Independent /column variable | |
One within subject factor ($\geq 2$ related groups) | One categorical with 2 independent groups | One categorical with $I$ independent groups ($I \geqslant 2$) | |
Dependent variable | Dependent variable | Dependent /row variable | |
One of ordinal level | One of ordinal level | One categorical with $J$ independent groups ($J \geqslant 2$) | |
Null hypothesis | Null hypothesis | Null hypothesis | |
H0: the population scores in any of the related groups are not systematically higher or lower than the population scores in any of the other related groups
Usually the related groups are the different measurement points. Several different formulations of the null hypothesis can be found in the literature, and we do not agree with all of them. Make sure you (also) learn the one that is given in your text book or by your teacher. | If the dependent variable is measured on a continuous scale and the shape of the distribution of the dependent variable is the same in both populations:
Formulation 1:
| H0: there is no association between the row and column variable More precisely, if there are $I$ independent random samples of size $n_i$ from each of $I$ populations, defined by the independent variable:
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Alternative hypothesis | Alternative hypothesis | Alternative hypothesis | |
H1: the population scores in some of the related groups are systematically higher or lower than the population scores in other related groups | If the dependent variable is measured on a continuous scale and the shape of the distribution of the dependent variable is the same in both populations:
Formulation 1:
| H1: there is an association between the row and column variable More precisely, if there are $I$ independent random samples of size $n_i$ from each of $I$ populations, defined by the independent variable:
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Assumptions | Assumptions | Assumptions | |
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Test statistic | Test statistic | Test statistic | |
$Q = \dfrac{12}{N \times k(k + 1)} \sum R^2_i - 3 \times N(k + 1)$
Here $N$ is the number of 'blocks' (usually the subjects - so if you have 4 repeated measurements for 60 subjects, $N$ equals 60), $k$ is the number of related groups (usually the number of repeated measurements), and $R_i$ is the sum of ranks in group $i$. Remember that multiplication precedes addition, so first compute $\frac{12}{N \times k(k + 1)} \times \sum R^2_i$ and then subtract $3 \times N(k + 1)$. Note: if ties are present in the data, the formula for $Q$ is more complicated. | Two different types of test statistics can be used; both will result in the same test outcome. The first is the Wilcoxon rank sum statistic $W$:
Note: we could just as well base W and U on group 2. This would only 'flip' the right and left sided alternative hypotheses. Also, tables with critical values for $U$ are often based on the smaller of $U$ for group 1 and for group 2. | $X^2 = \sum{\frac{(\mbox{observed cell count} - \mbox{expected cell count})^2}{\mbox{expected cell count}}}$
Here for each cell, the expected cell count = $\dfrac{\mbox{row total} \times \mbox{column total}}{\mbox{total sample size}}$, the observed cell count is the observed sample count in that same cell, and the sum is over all $I \times J$ cells. | |
Sampling distribution of $Q$ if H0 were true | Sampling distribution of $W$ and of $U$ if H0 were true | Sampling distribution of $X^2$ if H0 were true | |
If the number of blocks $N$ is large, approximately the chi-squared distribution with $k - 1$ degrees of freedom.
For small samples, the exact distribution of $Q$ should be used. | Sampling distribution of $W$:
Sampling distribution of $U$: For small samples, the exact distribution of $W$ or $U$ should be used. Note: if ties are present in the data, the formula for the standard deviations $\sigma_W$ and $\sigma_U$ is more complicated. | Approximately the chi-squared distribution with $(I - 1) \times (J - 1)$ degrees of freedom | |
Significant? | Significant? | Significant? | |
If the number of blocks $N$ is large, the table with critical $X^2$ values can be used. If we denote $X^2 = Q$:
| For large samples, the table for standard normal probabilities can be used: Two sided:
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n.a. | Equivalent to | n.a. | |
- | If there are no ties in the data, the two sided Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test is equivalent to the Kruskal-Wallis test with an independent variable with 2 levels ($I$ = 2). | - | |
Example context | Example context | Example context | |
Is there a difference in depression level between measurement point 1 (pre-intervention), measurement point 2 (1 week post-intervention), and measurement point 3 (6 weeks post-intervention)? | Do men tend to score higher on social economic status than women? | Is there an association between economic class and gender? Is the distribution of economic class different between men and women? | |
SPSS | SPSS | SPSS | |
Analyze > Nonparametric Tests > Legacy Dialogs > K Related Samples...
| Analyze > Nonparametric Tests > Legacy Dialogs > 2 Independent Samples...
| Analyze > Descriptive Statistics > Crosstabs...
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Jamovi | Jamovi | Jamovi | |
ANOVA > Repeated Measures ANOVA - Friedman
| T-Tests > Independent Samples T-Test
| Frequencies > Independent Samples - $\chi^2$ test of association
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Practice questions | Practice questions | Practice questions | |