METHOD Subcommand (DISCRIMINANT command)

METHOD is used to select a method for entering variables into an analysis.

• A variable will never be entered into the analysis if it does not pass the tolerance criterion specified on the TOLERANCE subcommand (or the default).
• A METHOD subcommand applies only to the preceding ANALYSIS subcommand, or to an analysis using all predictor variables if no ANALYSIS subcommand has been specified before it.
• If more than one METHOD subcommand is specified within one analysis block, the last is used.

Any one of the following methods can be specified on the METHOD subcommand:

DIRECT. All variables passing the tolerance criteria are entered simultaneously. This is the default method.

WILKS. At each step, the variable that minimizes the overall Wilks’ lambda is entered.

MAHAL. At each step, the variable that maximizes the Mahalanobis distance between the two closest groups is entered.

MAXMINF. At each step, the variable that maximizes the smallest F ratio between pairs of groups is entered.

MINRESID. At each step, the variable that minimizes the sum of the unexplained variation for all pairs of groups is entered.

RAO. At each step, the variable that produces the largest increase in Rao’s V is entered.