Lambda Coefficient Calculator

Instructions: This calculator computes the value of Lambda, which measures the strength of the association between two nominal variables. Please first indicate the number of columns and rows for the cross tabulation, and then type the table data:

Num. Rows = Num. Cols =

More about the Lambda Statistic

The Lambda statistic $$\lambda$$ is a statistic used to measure the strengh of association between two nominal variables, by assessing the proportional reduction of error (PRE) by considering the independent variable when compared to ignoring the independent variable in the prediction of the dependent variable. The Lambda statistic takes values from 0 to 1. Values close to 0 indicate a weak association between the variables and values close to 1 indicate a strong association between the variables.

The Lambda statistic is a asymmetrical measure, in the sense that its value depends on which variable is considered to be the independent variable.

The Lambda statistic is computed using the following formula:

$\lambda = \frac{E_1 – E_2 }{E_1}$

where $$E_1$$ corresponds to the number of prediction errors made when the independent variable is ignored, and $$E_2$$ corresponds to the number of prediction errors made when the prediction is based on the independent variable.

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