Let me point out that one can test for mean differences between
groups, while accounting for heterogeneity in variances, via the MIXED procedure. Ryan On Tue, Aug 2, 2011 at 3:30 AM, Rich Ulrich <[hidden email]> wrote: > For a computation formula, see > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown%E2%80%93Forsythe_test > > Having zero cases is a design problem. Does SPSS not drop the > missing category for you? - Sure, drop the zero category. > > The denominator is a double summation, so there is no reason for > any division by zero - that can prevent some statistics, some times. > Is the program *saying* there is a zero cell, preventing the statistic? > > Saying that "F statistics could not be used" is a mis-statement, as a > generality. The simple ANOVA tests are rather robust. > > I think it was Frederick Lord who exaggerated, saying something like, > "Using a variance test to check the validity of a t-test is like using a > canoe to check the water conditions for the safety of a liner." > That's especially true when Ns are equal, as in designed experiments. > (He wrote that in the 1950s or so, back when most data was of that kind.) > > Generally, homogeneity testing is useful for moderate size samples - > ANOVA is especially robust when the Ns are large, and the > variance test at the usual nominal level will reject far too often. > And the tests have almost no power when the Ns are small. > > > - More about the testing - > Sources that I read a dozen years ago, concerning the Levene test > and Student's t-test, seemed persuasive in arguing that one should > never "condition" your choice of the two t-tests on the outcome of > the variance test. (What to do instead was less consistent.) I believe > that applies elsewhere. > > Unequal variance may bias the result in either direction, depending on > whether the large-variance group has the large N or small N. > > As a practical matter, you should scan your data, and learn about > how it is generated; surprisingly often, dirty data needs correcting. > After that, I've avoided variance problems by using some natural > transformation, most often log or square root. > > Otherwise, if you have reason to expect unequal variances, you > should expect to correct for it unless it turns out to be small enough > to ignore. > > Hope this helps. > > -- > Rich Ulrich > > > ________________________________ > Date: Tue, 2 Aug 2011 03:45:47 +0000 > From: [hidden email] > Subject: Brown-Forsythe Issue in ANOVA > To: [hidden email] > > > Hi, > I have some queries on Brown-Forsythe. > Query 1 > I have an issue with ANOVA. One of my categories is having a 0 variance. > Hence SPSS could not calculate the Brown-Forsythe's Statistics. The Levene > Statistics showed that the homogeneity of variance was not met and hence F > Statistics could not be use. I have checked and found out that the reason > why one of my categories is having a 0 variance is because no respondents > fell under this category. My instinct is to remove this category and perform > an ANOVA again with K-1 categories. Is this a correct approach? > Query 2 > My case happened because one category has 0 respondent in it and this > caused the 0 variance issue. However I would like to also check if anyone > had this similar issue before but under the following condition. (I kind of > doubt the possibility of a 0 variance with all the categories ! having at > least one respondents though.) > > All categories have respondents in them. > At least one of the categories have 0 variance and caused SPSS unable to > calculate Brown-Forsythe's Statistics. > Lastly, the work around for this situation. > > Thanks. > Dorraj Oet ===================== To manage your subscription to SPSSX-L, send a message to [hidden email] (not to SPSSX-L), with no body text except the command. To leave the list, send the command SIGNOFF SPSSX-L For a list of commands to manage subscriptions, send the command INFO REFCARD |
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