anova.md

Summary: Statistical Analysis Beyond One-Way ANOVA

Key Points:

1. Overuse of One-Way ANOVA: There is a trend of overusing one-way ANOVA and multiple comparison tests (like Tukey's test) in research.

2. Limitations of Standard Approaches:

   • ANOVA assumes equal variances across groups, which is often not true.
   • Multiple comparison tests can lead to loss of statistical power.
   • These methods may not address the actual research question.

3. Problems with Current Practices:

   • Validity: Assumptions of normality and equal variances are often violated.
   • Efficiency: Unnecessary tests are performed, reducing power.
   • Usefulness: The analysis may not answer the intended research question.

4. Moving Forward:

   • Try finding more appropriate statistical approaches based on specific research questions.
   • Considering structure in data and using methods that account for it.
   • Think critically about our analytical choices.

We need to move beyond default statistical approaches and choose methods that truly address their research questions and respect the structure of their data.

Seeking help and advise from a statistician, is usually the right thing to do :)