Kendall’s tau-type rank statistics in genome data

Abstract

High-dimensional data models abound in genomics studies, where often inadequately small sample sizes create impasses for incorporation of standard statistical tools. Conventional assumptions of linearity of regression, homoscedasticity and (multi-) normality of errors may not be tenable in many such interdisciplinary setups. In this study, Kendall’s tau-type rank statistics are employed for statistical inference, avoiding most of parametric assumptions to a greater extent. The proposed procedures are compared with Kendall’s tau statistic based ones. Applications in microarray data models are stressed.