Yates Correction

The approximation of the Chi-square statistic in small 2x2 tables can be improved by reducing the absolute value of differences between expected and observed frequencies by 0.5 before squaring (Yates' correction). This correction, which makes the estimation more conservative, is usually applied when the table contains only small observed frequencies, so that some expected frequencies become less than 10. For further discussion of this correction, see Conover, 1974; Everitt, 1977; Hays, 1988; Kendall & Stuart, 1979; and Mantel, 1974).