Miller G A, Chapman J P
Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, 603 East Daniel Street, Champaign, Illinois 61820, USA.
J Abnorm Psychol. 2001 Feb;110(1):40-8. doi: 10.1037//0021-843x.110.1.40.
Despite numerous technical treatments in many venues, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) remains a widely misused approach to dealing with substantive group differences on potential covariates, particularly in psychopathology research. Published articles reach unfounded conclusions, and some statistics texts neglect the issue. The problem with ANCOVA in such cases is reviewed. In many cases, there is no means of achieving the superficially appealing goal of "correcting" or "controlling for" real group differences on a potential covariate. In hopes of curtailing misuse of ANCOVA and promoting appropriate use, a nontechnical discussion is provided, emphasizing a substantive confound rarely articulated in textbooks and other general presentations, to complement the mathematical critiques already available. Some alternatives are discussed for contexts in which ANCOVA is inappropriate or questionable.
尽管在许多场合进行了大量技术处理，但协方差分析（ANCOVA）在处理潜在协变量上的实质性组间差异时，仍然是一种被广泛滥用的方法，尤其是在精神病理学研究中。已发表的文章得出了毫无根据的结论，一些统计学教科书也忽略了这个问题。本文对这种情况下ANCOVA的问题进行了综述。在许多情况下，没有办法实现“校正”或“控制”潜在协变量上实际组间差异这个表面上诱人的目标。为了减少ANCOVA的滥用并促进其正确使用，本文提供了一个非技术性的讨论，强调了一个在教科书和其他一般论述中很少阐述的实质性混杂因素，以补充现有的数学批判。对于ANCOVA不适用或有问题的情况，还讨论了一些替代方法。
