CHAPTER 9:NONPARAMETRIC METHODS:

ANALAYSIS OF RANKED DATA

In Chapter 7, we discussed r, the coefficient of correlation, which measures the association
between two interval- or ratio-scaled variables.

Charles Spearman, a British statistician, introduced a measure of correlation for ordinal-level

data. This measure allows us to describe the relationship between sets of ranked data. For
example, two staff members in the Office of Research at the University of the Valley are asked
to rank 10 faculty research proposals. We want to study the association between the ratings of
the two staff members. That is , do the two staff members rate the same proposals as the most
worthy and the least worthy of funding? Spearman’s coefficient of rank correlation, rs, provides
a measure of the association.

6 ∑ 𝑑2
rs = 1 – 𝑛(𝑛2 −1)

where d is the difference between the ranks for each pair.

n is the number of paired observations.

Like the coefficient of correlation, the coefficient of rank correlation can assume any value from
–1 up to 1. A value of –1 indicates perfect negative correlation and a value of 1 perfect positive
correlation among the ranks. A rank correlation of 0 indicates that there is no strong association among
the ranks.

e.g.1 A composite rating is given by executives to each college graduate joining a plastics
manufacturing firm. The executive rating is an expression of the future potential of the college
graduate. The ratings represent, of course, the ordinal level of measurement. The recent college
graduate then enters an in-plant training program and is given another composite rating based on
tests, opinions of group leaders, training officers, and so on. The executive ratings and the in-
plant training ratings are given in the table below.
 Graduate Executive rating Training rating
A 8 4
B 10 4
C 9 4
D 4 3
E 12 6
F 11 9
G 11 9
H 7 6
I 8 6
J 13 9
K 10 5
L 12 9
Calculate the coefficient of rank correlation. Interpret its value.

e.g.2 The University of Winston has five scholarships available for the women’s basketball
team. The coach provided two scouts with the names of 10 high school players with
potential. Each scout attended three games and then ranked the 10 players with respect to
potential. To explain, the first scout ranked Norma Tidwell as the best player among the
10 scouted and Jeannie Black the worst.

Player Rank, by scout

Jean Cann John Cannelli
Cora Jean Seiple 7 5
Bette Jones 2 4
Jeannie Black 10 10
Norma Tidwell 1 3
Kathy Marchal 6 6
Candy Jenkins 3 1
Rita Rosinski 5 7
Anita Lockes 4 2
Brenda Towne 8 9
Denise Ober 9 8
Determine Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. Comment.
e.g.3 Recent studies focus on the relationship between the age of online shoppers and the
number of minutes spent browsing on the Internet. Table below shows a sample of 15
online shoppers who actually made a purchase last week. Included is their age and the
time (in minutes) spent browsing on the Internet last week.

Shopper Age Browsing time (minutes)

Spina, Sal 28 342
Gordon, Ray 50 125
Schnur, Roberta 44 121
Alvear, Jose 32 257
Myers, Tom 55 56
Lyons, George 60 225
Harbin, Joe 38 185
Bobko, Jack 22 141
Koppel, Marty 21 342
Rowatti, Marty 45 169
Monahan, Joyce 52 218
Lanoue, Bernie 33 241
Roll, Judy 19 583
Goodall, Jody 17 394
Broderick, Ron 21 249

Find the coefficient of rank correlation.

STA2204.chap9