Premium
Meaning of biodistance statistics: A test case using adult monozygotic twins
Author(s) -
Jamison Paul L.,
Meier Robert J.,
ThompsonJacob Dona
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.1330800408
Subject(s) - anthropometry , statistics , mahalanobis distance , multivariate statistics , twin study , observational error , mathematics , psychology , demography , biology , geography , genetics , sociology , archaeology , heritability
Anthropometry, historically one of the primary research techniques in physical anthropology, has been widely utilized in biodistance studies. The complex genetic and environmental interaction that governs the expression of anthropometric dimensions, together with concerns over measurement error, have sometimes clouded the interpretation of biodistances based upon anthropometry. In this study, 51 pairs of adult monozygotic twins were analysed using discriminant analysis and Mahalanobis' generalized distance. Both male and female twins, grouped by first‐ versus second‐born, displayed very small, statistically insignificant distances between groups. When literature estimates of intra‐observer measurement errors were used as a frame of reference, the average absolute differences between the twin pairs were approximately twice the size of the measurement error estimates. The results of this study suggest that, first, the environmental effect upon the genetically influenced traits measured by anthropometry is not large enough to bring about significant multivariate differences between identical twin pairs; and, second, biodistance studies based upon anthropometry can be reliable so long as measurement error is minimized.