A statistical study of the multivariate structure and race‐sex differences of American White and Negro fetal skeletons

Abstract

Abstract The techniques of factor analysis and discriminant analysis have been applied to 21 measurements of 115 fetal, American White and Negro skeletons. It was found that the factor patterns of the race‐sex groups are similar and that two factors describe approximately 85% of the total variance of the multivariate structure of the skeleton. Discriminant analyses showed that differences between the sexes are more marked than those between the races. A function was obtained by which the sex of fetal skeletons may be classified.