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Distribution‐Free and Robust Statistical Methods: Viable Alternatives to Parametric Statistics?
Author(s) -
Smith Stephen M.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.2307/1940732
Subject(s) - statistics , parametric statistics , type i and type ii errors , econometrics , a priori and a posteriori , ideal free distribution , ecology , statistical hypothesis testing , nonparametric statistics , robust statistics , mathematics , computer science , biology , outlier , philosophy , epistemology , predation
In much ecological hypothesis testing, Type II errors may be more serious than type I errors; ecologists are encouraged to make an a priori assessment of the relative costs of both types of error. Distribution—free statistics such as the Mann—Whitney procedure are not necessarily more powerful nor more robust than their parametric analogues.