Questionable Multivariate Statistical Inference in Wildlife Habitat and Community Studies
- 1 October 1988
- journal article
- research article
- Published by JSTOR in The Journal of Wildlife Management
- Vol. 52 (4) , 794-798
- https://doi.org/10.2307/3800948
Abstract
We analyzed a data set constructed from functionally unrelated, easily collected observations (e.g., meat, xgo k, and liquor prices) around Fort Collins, Colarado [USA], using principal components analysis (PCA), canonical correlation analysis (CC), and discriminant function analysis (DFA). Each produced seemingly significant results and suggested strong relationships between the variables measured. We suggest that multivariate techniques can provide invalid inferences when used with data containing no relationships. We question the use of these techniques in studies of wildlife habitat.This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:
- Chance-corrected Classification for Use in Discriminant Analysis: Ecological ApplicationsThe American Midland Naturalist, 1984