Nonparametric Correlations

This menu can be used to calculate nonparametric correlations between pairs of samples. There are two methods available; Spearman's rank correlation and Kendall's rank correlation coefficient.

Spearman's Rank Correlation Coefficient is a measure of association between the rankings of two variables measured on N individuals (i.e. two vectors of length N). The correlation coefficient is calculated from the vectors of ranks for each pair of samples.

Kendall's rank correlation coefficient, tau, is a measure of association between the rankings of two variables measured on N individuals. It is calculated as S / SQRT(NC1 * NC2). S is defined as the sum of SIGN(Xi - Xj) * SIGN(Yi - Yj)) over all pair of distinct units i and j. NC1 and NC2 are the number of valid comparisons (removing ties and missing values) that can be made amongst the first and second set of samples, respectively.

Data Arrangement

The data can be supplied either as a list of variates or as a single variate with a factor defining the groups.
List of VariatesThe samples must be supplied as a list of variates, whose names should be entered in the List of Data box
One Variate with GroupsThe data must be supplied in one variate, specified as the Data Set. Membership of the different samples is then indicated by the Groups factor

Test

Controls the type of nonparametric correlation test to be used.

Display

Specifies the output to be displayed.
TestCorrelation coefficient/matrix and relevant test statistics (Spearman rank correlation only).
ProbabilitiesProbability for correlation coefficient (Kendall's tau only).
CorrelationsRank correlation coefficient.
RanksRanks for each sample.

Available Data

List variates and factors that can be used to supply the data sets and groups. The contents may change as you move from one input field to another, so that appropriate types of data structure are listed. Double-click on a name to copy it into the current input field; alternatively you can enter the name directly using the keyboard.

See Also