OCC Psych A280-Statistics

How to Select the Correct Statistical Test

Based on the number and types of variables you have, use the grids in the sections below (i.e., Univariate, Bivariate, & Multivariate) to find the correct tests for your data.
Then scroll down to find the instructional videos for those tests in the video sections below.

Sometimes called quantitative variables. Called Scale data in SPSS.: Interval variables that can be measured along a continuum and they have a numerical; Ratio variables are interval variables, but with the added condition that 0 (zero) of the measurement indicates that there is none of that variable.
Sometimes called qualitative, discrete, or dichotomous variables. Called Ordinal and Nominal data in SPSS.: Ordinal data that has a distinct order. There’s a meaning to the order.; Nominal data are distinct groups with no meaning to the order.

VARIABLE TYPE	TEST
Categorical	Frequencies
Categorical	Explore for Categorical Data
Continuous	Descriptives
Continuous	Explore for Continuous Data

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IV	DV	TEST
Continuous	Continuous	Correlation
Categorical (≥ 2 groups)	Categorical (≥ 2 groups)	Chi-Square
Categorical (2 groups)	Continuous	Independent Samples T-test
Categorical (1 group 2 conditions)	Continuous	Paired Samples T-test
Categorical (≥ 2 groups)	Continuous	One-Way Between Subjects ANOVA
1 Group	Continuous (≥ 3 conditions)	One-Way Within Subjects ANOVA (Repeated Measures)

IV 1	IV 2	DV	TEST
Continuous	Continuous	Continuous	Simple Linear Regression
Continuous (≥ 2)		Continuous	Multiple Regression
Continuous (≥ 3)			Path Analysis/Structural Equation Modeling (SEM; Predictive Modeling)
Continuous	Continuous or Categorical	Continuous	Stepwise Multiple Regression
Continuous	Continuous or Categorical	Continuous	Hierarchical Regression
Continuous (≥ 1)	Categorical (≥ 1)	Categorical (2 groups)	Logistic Regression
Continuous (≥ 1)	Categorical (≥ 1)	Categorical (≥ 3 groups)	Multinomial Logistic Regression
Categorical	Categorical	Categorical	Log-Linear Regression
Categorical	Categorical	Continuous	Factorial ANOVA (2 X 2 ANOVA)
Categorical	Categorical	Continuous	One-Between-One-Within ANOVA (a.k.a. Mixed Factorial)
Categorical	Categorical or Continuous	Continuous	ANCOVA
Categorical (≥ 1)	Categorical (optional)	Continuous (≥ 2)	MANOVA
Categorical (≥ 1)	Categorical (optional)	Continuous (≥ 2)	MANCOVA