The following notation is used in this section:
| 
                      | 
                    
                      
                      
               
                   jth response in the ith group  | 
                    
                    
            
| 
                   k  | 
                    
                      
                      
               
                   number of groups  | 
                    
                    
            
| 
                      | 
                    
                      
                      
               
                   sample size of ith group  | 
                    
                    
            
| 
                   N  | 
                    
                      
                      
               
                    total sample size   | 
                    
                    
            
| 
                      | 
                    
                      
                      
               
                   expected value of a response in the ith group  | 
                    
                    
            
| 
                      | 
                    
                      
                      
               
                   standard deviation of a response  | 
                    
                    
            
| 
                      | 
                    
                      
                      
               
                   average response in the ith group  | 
                    
                    
            
| 
                      | 
                    
                      
                      
               
                   weighted average of k group means  | 
                    
                    
            
| 
                      | 
                    
                      
                      
               
                   sample variance of the responses in the ith group  | 
                    
                    
            
| 
                      | 
                    
                      
                      
               
                   mean square error (MSE)  | 
                    
                    
            
| 
                      | 
                    
                      
                      
               
                   degrees of freedom associated with the mean square error  | 
                    
                    
            
| 
                      | 
                    
                      
                      
               
                   significance level  | 
                    
                    
            
| 
                      | 
                    
                      
                      
               
                    critical value for analysis of means when the sample sizes   | 
                    
                    
            
| 
                      | 
                    
                      
                      
               
                    critical value for analysis of means when the sample sizes   | 
                    
                    
            
By default, the central line on an ANOM chart for means represents the weighted average of the group means, which is computed as
| 
                     
                      | 
                  
                  
               
You can specify a value for 
 with the MEAN= option in the XCHART statement or with the variable _MEAN_ in a LIMITS= data set. 
            
In the analysis of means for continuous data, it is assumed that the responses in the ith group are at least approximately normally distributed with a constant variance:
| 
                     
                      | 
                  
                  
               
When the group sizes are constant (
), then 
 and the decision limits are computed as follows: 
            
| 
                         
                      | 
                      
                      
                  
                         
                      | 
                      
                      
                  
                         
                      | 
                      
                      
                  
               
| 
                         
                      | 
                      
                      
                  
                         
                      | 
                      
                      
                  
                         
                      | 
                      
                      
                  
               
Here the mean square error (MSE) is computed as follows:
| 
                     
                      | 
                  
                  
               
For details concerning the function 
, see Nelson (1982a, 1993). 
            
When the group sizes are not constant (the unbalanced case), 
 and the decision limits for the ith group are computed as follows: 
            
| 
                         
                      | 
                      
                      
                  
                         
                      | 
                      
                      
                  
                         
                      | 
                      
                      
                  
               
| 
                         
                      | 
                      
                      
                  
                         
                      | 
                      
                      
                  
                         
                      | 
                      
                      
                  
               
Here the mean square error (MSE) is computed as follows:
| 
                     
                      | 
                  
                  
               
This requires that 
 be positive. A chart is not produced if 
 but MSE is equal to zero (unless you specify the ZEROSTD option). For details concerning the function 
, see Nelson (1991). 
            
You can specify parameters for the limits as follows:
Specify 
 with the ALPHA= option or with the variable _ALPHA_ in a LIMITS= data set. By default, 
 = 0.05. 
                     
Specify a constant nominal sample size 
 for the decision limits in the balanced case with the LIMITN= option or with the variable _LIMITN_ in a LIMITS= data set. By default, n is the observed sample size in the balanced case. 
                     
Specify k with the LIMITK= option or with the variable _LIMITK_ in a LIMITS= data set. By default, k is the number of groups. 
                     
Specify 
 with the MEAN= option or with the variable _MEAN_ in a LIMITS= data set. By default, 
 is the weighted average of the responses. 
                     
Specify 
 with the MSE= option or with the variable _MSE_ in a LIMITS= data set. By default, 
 is computed as indicated above. 
                     
Specify 
 with the DFE= option or with the variable _DFE_ in a LIMITS= data set. By default, 
 is determined as indicated above.