Analysis of Trend: A Permutation Alternative to the F Test

Abstract

When the categories of the independent variable in an analysis of variance are quantitative, it is more informative to evaluate the trends in the treatment means than to simply compare differences among the treatment means. A permutation alternative to the conventional F test is shown to possess significant advantages when analyzing trend among quantitative treatments in a one-way analysis of variance. An example with and without an extreme data point illustrates the effectiveness of the permutation alternative for the analysis of trend when homogeneity of variance is compromised.