The reduced major axis of a bivariate sample

Abstract

In situations such as allometry where a line is to be fitted to a bivariate sample but where an asymmetric choice of one or other variable as regressor cannot be made, the reduced major axis is often used. Existing tests of the slope of this line, particularly between samples, are not sufficiently accurate in view of the scarcity of the material to which such methods are often applied. Alternative test statistics are suggested and some of their properties derived from a computer implementation of k statistics.