Degrees of freedom 1: what it means and how to read it
In the report: df1 — The first (numerator) degrees of freedom of the F statistic next to it.
How to read it
The first number in brackets after F: F(df1, df2). You report it, you do not interpret it.
In plain words
A teacher saw two small numbers, 2 and 147, next to the main result of her test and did not know what they were. She looked up the first one, df1, and found 2. Now she knows it goes with the number of groups: three groups give 2. She does not have to explain it or judge it, only copy it in the right place in her report, first of the two. A reader who sees 2 there can tell at once that she compared three groups, and the second number tells about how many pupils took part.
Example
The cell with df1 is selected in each report; point at a label to see its note.
- — the sample data (50 rows) the examples use
- — two steps: x1,x2, then x added
=STATS_LINEAR(Data!A1:T51, "y", "x1,x2|x", 0) - —
=STATS_INDEPENDENT(Data!A1:T51, "y,x1", "welch",0.95) - — classic one-way ANOVA
=STATS_ANOVA(Data!A1:T51, "x1,x2")
Where you see it
STATS_LINEAR— Multiple linear regression (OLS) with hierarchical steps separated by | and interactions a*b.STATS_INDEPENDENT— Independent-samples t-test for two groups: the two selected columns are the groups.STATS_ANOVA— One-way ANOVA: each selected column is a group. Classic (Student) or Welch ANOVA, chosen by welch (auto by default), with homogeneity of variances and post-hoc comparisons.STATS_ANALYZE— Runs several analyses on one range and returns one report.
Related values
- Degrees of freedom 2 — The second (denominator) degrees of freedom of the F statistic next to it.
- Degrees of freedom — The degrees of freedom of the statistic next to it: how much independent information the estimate rests on.
- t statistic — A difference measured in standard errors; its sign is the sign of the difference. Its p comes from the t distribution with the degrees of freedom next to it.
- Likelihood-ratio chi-square — How much −2 Log Likelihood dropped compared with the model with the intercept only.
- Wald statistic — The Wald statistic of the coefficient: (B / StdError)². Empty when lambda is above 0.
Get it in your sheet
One formula in a cell gives the whole report, Degrees of freedom 1 included. ALS Stats is a free add-on for Google Sheets™.
Install ALS Stats from Google Workspace Marketplace (opens in a new tab)