A study compares the proportion of smokers who develop lung cancer versus non-smokers who develop lung cancer. The data are arranged in a 2 by 2 contingency table. Which statistical test is most appropriate to test this association?

• A Student's t-test
• B Pearson's correlation coefficient
• C Mann-Whitney U test
• D Chi-square test ✓

Explanation

Both variables (smoking status and lung cancer occurrence) are categorical, arranged in a contingency table. The chi-square test assesses association between two categorical variables. Student's t-test compares means of a continuous variable between two groups. Pearson's correlation measures linear association between two continuous variables. Mann-Whitney U compares ordinal or non-normal continuous data between two independent groups.

Reference: Park's Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine, 26th ed.

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