Analysis of Variance Using Statistical Computing Packages

The widespread availability of modern high speed mainframes and microcomputers and myriad accompanying software have made it much simpler to perform a wide range of statistical analyses. The use of statistical computing packages or software can make it possible even for a relatively inexperienced person to utilize computers to perform a statistical analysis. Although there are numerous statistical packages that can perform the analysis of variance, we have chosen to include for this volume three statistical packages that are most widely used by scientists and researchers throughout the world and that have become standards in the field),1 The packages are the Statistical Analysis System (SAS), the Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS),2 and the Biomedical Programs (BMDP). In the following we provide a brief introduction to these packages and their use for performing an analysis of variance, and related statistical tests of significance.3,4,5