Analysis of variance.pdfVIP

Analysis of variance∗ Andrew Gelman† March 22, 2006 Abstract Analysis of variance (ANOVA) is a statistical procedure for summarizing a classical linear model—a decomposition of sum of squares into a component for each source of variation in the model—along with an associated test (the F-test) of the hypothesis that any given source of variation in the model is zero. When applied to generalized linear models, multilevel models, and other extensions of classical regression, ANOVA can be extended in two different directions. First, the F-test can be used (in an asymptotic or approximate fashion) to compare nested models, to test the hypothesis that the simpler of the models is sufficient to explain the data. Second, the idea of variance decomposition can be interpreted as inference for the variances of batches of parameters (sources of variation) in multilevel regressions. 1 Introduction Analysis of variance (ANOVA) represents a set of models that can be fit to data, and also a set of methods for summarize an existing fitted model. We first consider ANOVA as it applies to classical linear models (the context for which it was originally devised; Fisher, 1925) and then discuss how ANOVA has been extended to generalized linear models and multilevel models. Analysis of variance is particularly effective for analyzing highly structured experimental data (in agriculture, multiple treatments applied to different batches of animals or crops; in psychology, multi-factorial experiments manipulating several independent experimental conditions and applied to groups of people; industrial experiments in which multiple factors can be altered at different times and in different locat