Table of Contents
The FINV function in SAS is a statistical function that can be used to calculate the inverse cumulative distribution for a given probability. For example, you can input a probability of 0.75 and the FINV function will return the value of the corresponding inverse cumulative distribution. This can be used to calculate critical values for a particular probability, such as a 95% confidence level, a 99% confidence level, or any other probability. The FINV function can be used in combination with other statistical functions to calculate probabilities and other values related to a given dataset.
You can use the FINV function in SAS to find critical values from the F distribution.
This function uses the following basic syntax:
FINV(p, ndf, ddf)
where:
- p: 1 – the significance level
- ndf: The numerator degrees of freedom
- ddf: The denominator degrees of freedom
The following example shows how to use the FINV function in practice to calculate F critical values.
Example: How to Use FINV Function in SAS to Calculate F Critical Values
Suppose we would like to find the F critical value for a significance level of 0.05, numerator degrees of freedom = 6, and denominator degrees of freedom = 8.
We can use the FINV function to calculate this value:
/*create dataset that contains F critical value*/
data my_data;
critical_val=finv(.95, 6, 8);
put critical_val=;
run;
/*view results*/
proc print data=my_data;
The F critical value for a significance level of 0.05, numerator degrees of freedom = 6, and denominator degrees of freedom = 8 is 3.58058.
Thus, if we’re conducting some type of F test then we can compare the F test statistic to 3.58058.
If the F statistic is greater than 3.58058, then the results of the test are statistically significant.
It’s worth noting that smaller values for the significance level will lead to larger F critical values.
For example, consider the F critical value for a significance level of 0.01, numerator degrees of freedom = 6, and denominator degrees of freedom = 8:
/*create dataset that contains F critical value*/
data my_data;
critical_val=finv(.99, 6, 8);
put critical_val=;
run;
/*view results*/
proc print data=my_data;
The F critical value for a significance level of 0.05, numerator degrees of freedom = 6, and denominator degrees of freedom = 8 is 6.37068.
Note: You can also use the to find critical values by hand. The values that you find in the table will match the ones calculated by the FINV function in SAS.
The following tutorials explain how to perform other common tasks in SAS: