18.1.5

Spearman’s Rank

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Spearman’s Rank

Spearman's rank is a correlation test used to determine the significance of the relationship between datasets. You need a minimum of 10 data pairs to conduct this test. The steps involved are:

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Null hypothesis

  • State the null hypothesis.
  • This is always that there is no significant relationship between dataset one and dataset two.
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Calculation

  • To calculate the Spearman's rank correlation coefficient using the below formula:
    • rs=16ΣD2n(n21)\LARGE r_s = 1 - \frac {6 Σ D^2}{n({n^2}-1)}
  • rsr_s is the Spearman's rank correlation coefficient.
  • DD is the difference between the results.
  • nn is the no. of pairs.
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Compare your value to critical value

  • Look up the critical value for rsr_s at the p = 0.05 significance interval.
  • Compare your calculated value to the critical value.
    • Reject the null hypothesis if your calculated value is equal to or greater than the critical value.
      • This means there is a statistically significant relationship between the two datasets.
    • Accept the null hypothesis if the calculated value is less than the critical value.

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