Definition:Fisher's Exact Test

Definition

Fisher's exact test is a test for lack of association in a $2 \times 2$ contingency table.

It is based on the hypergeometric distribution.

If expected numbers in all cells are not too low, the $\chi^2$ test is a good approximation.

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Also known as

Fisher's exact test is also known as:

the Fisher-Irwin test (for Ronald Aylmer Fisher and Joseph Oscar Irwin)

the Fisher-Yates test (for Ronald Aylmer Fisher and Frank Yates)

Also see

• Results about Fisher's exact test can be found here.

Source of Name

This entry was named for Ronald Aylmer Fisher.

Sources

• 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Fisher's exact test
• 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Fisher's exact test