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Breast Cancer Example

 

Breast Cancer Example

The chi-square test procedure can also be used to test whether two categorical variable are associated, that is, whether they are related other than by chance.

Snedecor and Cochran 127 (8th ed. 1989) reports the results of Murphy and Abbey’s early study of whether breast cancer tends to run in families:

 
Breast Cancer in Daughter
Yes
No
Totals
Breast Cancer in Mother
7
3
10
No Breast Cancer in Mother
193
197
390
Totals
200
200
400

Here the Chi Squarestatistic is 1.641, with one degree of freedom, corresponding to a p-value of 0.20.

Question

Should we conclude that there is no association between breast cancer in mother and daughter? Why?


      

 
Copyright © 2002 by Theodore Eisenberg & Kevin M. Clermont
Cornell University
Cornell Law School
Cornell University
Comments to ted@teddy.law.cornell.edu
Last updated: September 2002