STATISTICAL SOFTWARE FOR EXACT ANALYSIS OF CATEGORICAL DATA

CYTEL SOFTWARE INTENDS TO PRODUCE AND MARKET A STATISTICAL SOFTWARE PACKAGE FOR EXACT NONPARAMETRIC INFERENCE ON A BROAD RANGE OF PROBLEMS COMMONLY ENCOUNTERED BY APPLIED STATISTICIANS. THE EMPHASIS IS ON PROVIDING A COMPUTATIONALLY EFFICIENT, STRONG, AND PORTABLE SET OF TOOLS FOR PERFORMING EXACT INFERENCE WHENEVER LARGE SAMPLE ASSUMPTIONS JUSTIFYING CONVENTIONAL ASYMPTOTIC INFERENCE AREIN DOUBT. THIS HAPPENS OFTEN WITH CONTIGENCY TABLES THAT ARE CHARACTERIZED BY EMPTY CELLS OR CELLS WITH SMALL ENTRIESEXACT METHODS FOR ANALYZING THESE "SPARSE" CONTIGENCY TABLESWHILE PREFERRED, CANNOT BE APPLIED BECAUSE THEY HAVE NOT SOFTWARE IS NOT AN OVERSIGHT. FORMIDABLE TECHNICAL DIFFICULINCORPORATED INTO ANY OF THE COMMERCIAL STATISTICAL PACK- AGES. THIS GAP IN COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE SOFTWARE IS NOT AN OVERSIGHT. FORMIDABLE TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES ARE EN- COUNTERED WHEN ATTEMPTING TO PRODUCE SOFTWARE FOR EXACT INFERENCE. SEVERAL MAJOR INNOVATIONS IN THE THEORY OF STAT-ISTICAL COMPUTING HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED RECENTLY BY THE PRIN- CIPAL INVESTIGATOR AND CO-INVESTIGATOR. AS A RESULT, EXACT STATISTICAL INFERENCE IS NOW A PRACTICAL PROPOSITION FOR MOST IMPORTANT TYPES OF CONTINGENCY TABLE DATA. CYTEL SOFT WARE WILL INTEGRATE THESE INNOVATIONS INTO A STAND-ALONE STATISTICAL PACKAGE FOR MAINFRAME, MINI-, AND MICROCOMPUTERSTHE PACKAGE WILL INTERFACE IN A FRIENDLY WAY WITH POPULAR COMMERCIAL STATISTICAL PACKAGES SUCH AS SAS, BMDP, AND SPSS,WITH LOTUS 1-2-3, A POPULAR MICROCOMPUTER SPREADSHEET.