A goodness of fit test is used to determine whether observed categorical data matches an expected distribution. When testing if customer preferences are equally distributed among categories, such as flavors of a drink, the null hypothesis states that the observed frequencies fit the claimed distribution, while the alternative hypothesis suggests they do not. For example, if a company surveys 200 customers about their preferred flavor among lemon, berry, mango, and peach, the expected frequency for each flavor can be calculated using the formula , where is the total sample size and is the number of categories. Here, each expected count is .
The degrees of freedom for the chi-square goodness of fit test is found by subtracting one from the number of categories, , which in this case is 3. Using a TI-84 calculator, you can input the observed frequencies into list L1 and the expected frequencies into list L2. Then, by navigating to the chi-square GOF test function under the STAT menu, you specify these lists and the degrees of freedom before calculating the test statistic and p-value.
The chi-square statistic measures the discrepancy between observed and expected frequencies, while the p-value indicates the probability of observing such a discrepancy if the null hypothesis is true. If the p-value is greater than the significance level (commonly 0.05), you fail to reject the null hypothesis, suggesting there is insufficient evidence to conclude that preferences are unevenly distributed. In the example, a p-value of approximately 0.44 exceeds 0.05, supporting the conclusion that customer flavor preferences are evenly distributed.
Understanding how to perform and interpret a chi-square goodness of fit test, including calculating expected values, degrees of freedom, and using technology like the TI-84, is essential for analyzing categorical data and making informed decisions based on statistical evidence.
