# Cochran's rules for contingency table

I am proposing this question for a chi-squared test of association between party and voting. The following table is based on how (R)-Republican and (D)-Democrats voted on a specific bill

     yes no
R  99 11
D   1 48


Since the (D, yes) cell is 1, could I be violating Cochran's rules for a chi-squared test?

• What is the expected count for D-yes? – Alexis Dec 5 '17 at 22:48
• 30.817 found from (100*49/159) – Nathgun Dec 5 '17 at 22:57
• Isn't the rule that the $\chi^{2}$ contingency table test should not be used when expected counts in any cell are less than 5? – Alexis Dec 5 '17 at 23:04
• @Alexis I should have specified that the table listed here is the observed counts. None of the expected count cells are less than 5 – Nathgun Dec 5 '17 at 23:28
• Cochran's main point under this heading was that a rule such as all expected counts being at least 5 was over-cautious. – Nick Cox Dec 6 '17 at 2:35

Answer: contingency table $\chi^{2}$ tests with expected counts less than 5 were deemed inappropriate by Cochran, but your example is of observed counts.