A Priori Tests in Repeated Measures Designs: Effects of Nonsphericity

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Abstract
The validity conditions for univariate repeated measures designs are described. Attention is focused on the sphericity requirement. For a v degree of freedom family of comparisons among the repeated measures, sphericity exists when all contrasts contained in the v dimensional space have equal variances. Under nonsphericity, upper and lower bounds on test size and power of a priori, repeated measures, F tests are derived. The effects of nonsphericity are illustrated by means of a set of charts. The charts reveal that small departures from sphericity (.97 ≤ ε < 1.00) can seriously affect test size and power. It is recommended that separate rather than pooled error term procedures be routinely used to test a priori hypotheses.