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 match the expected equal distribution, while the alternative hypothesis suggests they do not.
To perform this test, first calculate the expected values using the formula , where is the total sample size and is the number of categories. For example, if 200 customers are surveyed across 4 flavors, each expected frequency is . The degrees of freedom for the test is calculated as , which in this case is 3.
Using a TI-84 calculator simplifies the computation of the chi-square goodness of fit test. Input the observed frequencies into list L1 and the expected frequencies into list L2. Access the test by pressing the STAT button, navigating to the TESTS menu, and selecting the χ² GOF Test (option D). Ensure the observed list is set to L1, the expected list to L2, and update the degrees of freedom to match the problem (e.g., 3).
After running the test, the calculator provides the chi-square statistic, degrees of freedom, p-value, and contribution values for each category. The p-value is critical for decision-making: if it is greater than the significance level (commonly 0.05), we fail to reject the null hypothesis, indicating insufficient evidence to conclude that the observed distribution differs from the expected. Conversely, a p-value less than the significance level suggests the observed data does not fit the expected distribution.
In the example with a p-value of approximately 0.44, which is greater than 0.05, the conclusion is that customer flavor preferences are evenly distributed, supporting the claim of equal preference among flavors. This process highlights the importance of understanding hypothesis formulation, expected value calculation, degrees of freedom, and interpreting p-values in chi-square goodness of fit tests.
