CROSSTABS—EXPLORE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CATEGORICAL VARIABLES.

February 01, 2026

A crosstab (or cross-tabulation) is a special type of table. This table displays the count or frequency for each combination of the categories. This table has been known to show correlations between categorical variables. We can examine the relationship between two or more variables with crosstabs.

Let’s create a crosstab to summarize hypothetical data containing customers' breakfast preferences, such as breakfast item and gender. Each case represents a separate customer.

Once the values are cross-tabulated, analyze the frequencies. We can look at each combination of categories (values of the variables). If a value (or a category, E.g., "Snack with Ice Coffee") of the breakfast variable appears to be linked to a value (a category, E.g., "Female") of the gender variable, that indicates a relationship.

This table shows that more females prefer “Snack with Mango Juice” than males, which could indicate a correlation between gender and breakfast.

 

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