Sign test - overview
This page offers structured overviews of one or more selected methods. Add additional methods for comparisons (max. of 3) by clicking on the dropdown button in the right-hand column. To practice with a specific method click the button at the bottom row of the table
Sign test | Friedman test | Chi-squared test for the relationship between two categorical variables |
You cannot compare more than 3 methods |
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Independent variable | Independent/grouping variable | Independent /column variable | |
2 paired groups | One within subject factor ($\geq 2$ related 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. | 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 | 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 | |
$W = $ number of difference scores that is larger than 0 | $Q = \dfrac{12}{N \times k(k + 1)} \sum R^2_i - 3 \times N(k + 1)$
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. | $X^2 = \sum{\frac{(\mbox{observed cell count} - \mbox{expected cell count})^2}{\mbox{expected cell count}}}$
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 $W$ if H0 were true | Sampling distribution of $Q$ if H0 were true | Sampling distribution of $X^2$ if H0 were true | |
The exact distribution of $W$ under the null hypothesis is the Binomial($n$, $P$) distribution, with $n =$ number of positive differences $+$ number of negative differences, and $P = 0.5$.
If $n$ is large, $W$ is approximately normally distributed under the null hypothesis, with mean $nP = n \times 0.5$ and standard deviation $\sqrt{nP(1-P)} = \sqrt{n \times 0.5(1 - 0.5)}$. Hence, if $n$ is large, the standardized test statistic $$z = \frac{W - n \times 0.5}{\sqrt{n \times 0.5(1 - 0.5)}}$$ follows approximately the standard normal distribution if the null hypothesis 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. | Approximately the chi-squared distribution with $(I - 1) \times (J - 1)$ degrees of freedom | |
Significant? | Significant? | Significant? | |
If $n$ is small, the table for the binomial distribution should be used: Two sided:
If $n$ is large, the table for standard normal probabilities can be used: Two sided:
| If the number of blocks $N$ is large, the table with critical $X^2$ values can be used. If we denote $X^2 = Q$:
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Equivalent to | n.a. | n.a. | |
Two sided sign test is equivalent to
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Example context | Example context | Example context | |
Do people tend to score higher on mental health after a mindfulness course? | 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)? | 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 > 2 Related Samples...
| Analyze > Nonparametric Tests > Legacy Dialogs > K Related Samples...
| Analyze > Descriptive Statistics > Crosstabs...
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Jamovi | Jamovi | Jamovi | |
Jamovi does not have a specific option for the sign test. However, you can do the Friedman test instead. The $p$ value resulting from this Friedman test is equivalent to the two sided $p$ value that would have resulted from the sign test. Go to:
ANOVA > Repeated Measures ANOVA - Friedman
| ANOVA > Repeated Measures ANOVA - Friedman
| Frequencies > Independent Samples - $\chi^2$ test of association
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Practice questions | Practice questions | Practice questions | |