For the latest version of JMP Help, visit JMP.com/help.


Publication date: 04/21/2023

Comparisons with Control

When you select the Multiple Comparisons option, you can choose the initial comparison to be with a control group. If you select Comparisons with Control - Dunnett’s, a window opens, asking you to specify a control group. If you selected Least Squares Means Estimates, the list consists of all levels of the effect you that you selected. If you selected User-Defined Estimates, the list consists of the combinations of effect levels that you specified.

Tip: You can add a Control Level column property to the factor column to avoid specifying the control group each time you select Comparisons with Control - Dunnett’s. See Control Level in Using JMP.

After you choose a control group and click OK, the Comparisons with Control report appears in your Fit Least Squares report. This option compares the means for the specified settings to the control group mean. It displays a table showing confidence intervals for differences from the control group and a chart showing decision limits. Dunnett’s method is used to make the comparisons. Dunnett’s method is a multiple comparison procedure that controls the error rate over all comparisons (Hsu 1996; Westfall et al. 2011).

When exact calculation of p-values and confidence intervals is not possible, Hsu’s factor analytical approximation is used (Hsu 1992). Note that computing exact critical values and p-values for unbalanced designs requires complex integration and can be computationally intensive. When calculations for such a quantile fail, the Sidak quantile is computed.

In addition to the list of effects that do not vary for the specified estimates, at the top of the Comparisons with Control report you also find:

Quantile

The critical value for Dunnett’s test.

Adjusted DF

The degrees of freedom used in constructing the confidence intervals.

Control

The setting that defines the control group. This is a single level if you have selected a single effect; it is a combination of levels if you specified a user-defined combination of more than one effect.

Adjustment

The method used to obtain the critical value:

Dunnett

Provides exact critical values and p-values. Used whenever possible, in particular, when the estimates are uncorrelated.

Dunnett-Hsu

Provides approximate critical values and p-values based on Hsu’s factor analytical approximation (Hsu 1992). Used when exact values cannot be obtained.

Sidak

Used when both Dunnett and Dunnett-Hsu fail.

For technical details, see the GLM Procedure chapter in SAS Institute Inc. (2022b).

Three options are available from the Comparisons with Control report menu:

Differences from Control

For each comparison of a group mean to the control mean, this report provides the following details:

The levels being compared

Difference - the estimated difference

Std Error - the standard error of the difference

Lower and Upper limits for the confidence interval

t Ratio - the ratio of the Difference and Std Error columns

Comparisons with Control Decision Chart

This decision chart plots a point at the mean for each group being compared to the control group. A horizontal line shows the mean for the control group. Upper and lower decision limits are plotted. When a point falls outside these limits, it corresponds to a group whose mean differs from the control group mean based on Dunnett’s test at the specified significance level. That level is shown beneath the chart.

The Comparisons with Control Decision Chart report menu has these options:

Show Summary Report

Produces a table showing the estimate, decision limits, and the limit exceeded for each group

Display Options

Gives several options for controlling the display of the chart.

Calculate Adjusted P-Values

Adds a column that contains p-values (Prob>|t|) to the Comparisons with Control report. Note that computing exact critical values and p-values for unbalanced designs requires complex integration and can be computationally challenging. When calculations for such a quantile fail, the Sidak quantile is computed but p-values are not available.

Want more information? Have questions? Get answers in the JMP User Community (community.jmp.com).