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Which kinds of variables are examined with a chi-square test for association?

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The chi-square test for association is specifically designed to examine the relationship between two categorical variables.1

In this context, the test evaluates whether there is a statistically significant association between the variables by comparing observed frequencies of data combinations against expected frequencies. Unlike other statistical methods that measure the strength of a relationship, the chi-square test for association is used to determine the significance of the association between these categorical groups.21

For example, researchers might use this test to determine if there is a significant relationship between variables such as gender and political party affiliation by counting the number of individuals who fall into various combinations (e.g., female-Democrat, male-Republican) and analyzing the resulting distribution.1