Hello R-help. I believe I may be coding the offset incorrectly in my formula. I am testing significance between different group pairings using the VGAM package. My data are zero-truncated and poisson-distributed and overdispersed, so I'm using the posnegbinomial function in vglm (code below). I've spent a very long time working out this model and am pretty sure it's the best for my data, but I have several examples of groups with very similar means that come out significant. I'm looking at differences in density between 2 data sources (see attached file), but the plot size varies between the 2, so I am using plot "Area" as an offset and running tests on "Stems". I've attached a sample where the means for density are 26.4 vs. 25.2 with clearly overlapping error bars, yet the test comes out significant. (A Wilcoxan test on density also comes out significant.) Just to check, I did a t-test on density, which was non-significant, and a t-test on Stems, which WAS significant. This leads me to believe that my vglm model is not accounting for the area offset (and thus density) and is just running the model straight on "Stems". Here's the code: vglm(Stems~Data + offset(log(Area)), family=posnegbinomial, data=...) I've tried changing the family to "pospoisson" and it makes no difference. I've also tried taking out the log part of the offset, just to see what would happen, but couldn't get the model to run. I'm currently working with R 2.14.1. I'd love any ideas you may have on possible solutions. Chris -- Christopher R. Dolanc Post-doctoral Researcher University of Montana and UC-Davis -------------- next part -------------- Data Plot Stems Area Density FIA 8.87E+12 1 665.0103 15.03736 FIA 2.51E+13 2 672.45 29.74199 FIA 8.94E+12 3 619.9869 48.38812 FIA 2.38E+13 1 601.4576 16.62628 FIA 1.31E+13 2 634.6976 31.51107 FIA 2.30E+13 1 659.3915 15.1655 FIA 2.99E+13 2 634.6976 31.51107 FIA 2.40E+13 1 659.3915 15.1655 FIA 8.87E+12 1 665.0103 15.03736 FIA 2.40E+13 1 665.0103 15.03736 FIA 2.51E+13 1 666.8388 14.99613 FIA 2.30E+13 1 601.4576 16.62628 FIA 2.36E+13 1 599.0423 16.69331 FIA 8.94E+12 1 624.3542 16.01655 FIA 2.51E+13 2 672.45 29.74199 FIA 2.94E+13 1 659.3915 15.1655 FIA 2.51E+13 1 666.8388 14.99613 FIA 2.29E+13 1 661.8141 15.10998 FIA 2.51E+13 1 672.45 14.87099 FIA 2.38E+13 1 669.743 14.9311 FIA 2.99E+13 2 672.45 29.74199 FIA 2.42E+13 1 652.3723 15.32867 FIA 2.29E+13 1 634.6976 15.75554 FIA 2.30E+13 1 628.5952 15.90849 FIA 1.31E+13 3 671.2428 44.69321 FIA 2.36E+13 1 671.611 14.88957 FIA 8.94E+12 2 619.9869 32.25875 FIA 1.31E+13 1 634.6976 15.75554 FIA 2.37E+13 1 659.3915 15.1655 FIA 2.38E+13 1 601.4576 16.62628 FIA 2.38E+13 2 670.3084 29.83701 FIA 2.30E+13 1 669.1128 14.94516 FIA 2.37E+13 2 168.1125 118.96795 FIA 1.32E+13 3 644.0903 46.57732 FIA 2.99E+13 1 645.8406 15.4837 FIA 2.37E+13 1 649.2028 15.40351 FIA 2.94E+13 2 659.3915 30.331 FIA 2.30E+13 3 659.3915 45.49649 FIA 8.87E+12 1 669.1128 14.94516 FIA 2.42E+13 1 525.0952 19.04416 FIA 1.31E+13 3 589.2114 50.91551 FIA 8.94E+12 3 624.3542 48.04965 FIA 2.29E+13 1 613.2216 16.30732 FIA 2.43E+13 2 498.7577 40.09963 FIA 1.32E+13 2 659.3915 30.331 FIA 2.43E+13 1 550.8925 18.15236 FIA 1.31E+13 1 613.2216 16.30732 FIA 2.29E+13 1 634.6976 15.75554 FIA 2.37E+13 4 613.2216 65.22927 FIA 2.30E+13 3 661.8141 45.32995 FIA 2.43E+13 2 525.0952 38.08833 FIA 1.31E+13 1 512.3661 19.51729 FIA 8.89E+12 1 463.7586 21.56294 FIA 2.29E+13 1 634.6976 15.75554 FIA 2.50E+13 1 550.8925 18.15236 FIA 8.92E+12 1 672.45 14.87099 FIA 2.38E+13 1 669.1128 14.94516 FIA 1.31E+13 1 634.6976 15.75554 FIA 2.30E+13 4 659.3915 60.66199 FIA 2.40E+13 1 659.3915 15.1655 FIA 2.29E+13 1 667.66 14.97768 FIA 1.32E+13 4 576.6211 69.36964 FIA 2.38E+13 1 576.6211 17.34241 FIA 2.37E+13 1 487.5259 20.51173 FIA 2.43E+13 1 608.5832 16.43161 FIA 2.42E+13 1 525.0952 19.04416 FIA 2.29E+13 1 601.4576 16.62628 FIA 8.94E+12 1 634.6976 15.75554 FIA 1.31E+13 1 589.2114 16.97184 FIA 2.36E+13 1 634.6976 15.75554 FIA 8.94E+12 1 632.6997 15.80529 FIA 2.38E+13 2 589.2114 33.94368 FIA 8.94E+12 1 624.3542 16.01655 VTM 56F54 3 785.2601 38.2039 VTM 56D51 1 793.7091 12.59907 VTM 55E414 4 793.7091 50.3963 VTM 39F41 1 763.985 13.08926 VTM 56F54 1 785.2601 12.73463 VTM 69C119 1 785.2601 12.73463 VTM 69C18 1 785.2601 12.73463 VTM 69C216 2 785.2601 25.46927 VTM 69D29 3 800.4724 37.47787 VTM 68C514 1 709.2333 14.09973 VTM 68C68 1 800.4724 12.49262 VTM 3.90E+26 1 800.4724 12.49262 VTM 5.60E+53 1 694.0784 14.40759 VTM 39C12 1 738.1344 13.54767 VTM 3.90E+33 1 793.7091 12.59907 VTM 39D33 2 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3 763.985 39.26779 VTM 69C216 2 785.2601 25.46927 VTM 69E310 1 751.5347 13.30611 VTM 69F17 3 763.985 39.26779 VTM 69F214 2 808.4177 24.73969 VTM 69F24 3 694.0784 43.22278 VTM 77F113 1 775.291 12.89838 VTM 89A14 1 785.2601 12.73463 VTM 51F19 1 785.2601 12.73463 VTM 69B17 1 785.2601 12.73463 VTM 6.90E+29 2 723.9741 27.6253 VTM 6.80E+68 3 775.291 38.69515 VTM 5.60E+70 1 793.7091 12.59907 VTM 40A411 3 775.291 38.69515 VTM 40B511 2 808.4177 24.73969 VTM 40B56 1 775.291 12.89838 VTM 50A52 2 775.291 25.79676 VTM 50A62 3 775.291 38.69515 VTM 50A64 4 793.7091 50.3963 VTM 50F67 1 805.4106 12.41603 VTM 51C12 2 805.4106 24.83206 VTM 51F12 1 793.7091 12.59907 VTM 56C413 2 793.7091 25.19815 VTM 56F58 2 775.291 25.79676 VTM 68D64 1 738.1344 13.54767 VTM 69B16 1 785.2601 12.73463 VTM 69E317 2 785.2601 25.46927 VTM 78C44 2 763.985 26.17852 VTM 78C614 1 763.985 13.08926 VTM 89A36 2 808.4177 24.73969 VTM 89A35 1 800.4724 12.49262 VTM 68B53 2 709.2333 28.19946 VTM 68B64 1 793.7091 12.59907 VTM 56D56 3 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