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Inappropriate application of logarithmic transformations for allometric power functions of morphometric data on acanthocephalan worms
Author(s) -
Voordouw Maarten J.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of zoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.915
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1469-7998
pISSN - 0952-8369
DOI - 10.1017/s0952836901001352
Subject(s) - allometry , multiplicative function , transformation (genetics) , logarithm , biology , scale (ratio) , logarithmic scale , set (abstract data type) , linear map , statistics , mathematics , mathematical analysis , ecology , pure mathematics , computer science , physics , quantum mechanics , acoustics , programming language , biochemistry , gene
Logarithmic transformation is used to transform multiplicative phenomena to a linear, additive scale. Some workers recommend the transformation x ′= log x + 1 when observed values are equal to zero. However, when working with morphometric data, this transformation is inappropriate because it arbitrarily changes the nature of the relationship between body parts. To illustrate this point, this contribution re‐analyses a data set from the recent literature.