Eight goodness of fit tests are compared with respect to their simulated small sample power of detecting an inbreeding alternative to the Hardy-Weinberg null hypothesis. The Pearson's x ² test is found to be most powerful, and the small rample levels of this test are close to the nominal (x ²) significance levels. The use of conditional expectations, rather than expected frequencies based on ML estimates, increases the power and improves thc x ² fit to the true significance level. The small sample powers are also compared to the asymptotic (Pitman) pourer, based on the noncenlral x ² distribution.