The ANOVA Procedure

Missing Values

For an analysis involving one dependent variable, PROC ANOVA uses an observation if values are nonmissing for that dependent variable and for all the variables used in independent effects.

For an analysis involving multiple dependent variables without the MANOVA or REPEATED statement, or without the MANOVA option in the PROC ANOVA statement, a missing value in one dependent variable does not eliminate the observation from the analysis of other nonmissing dependent variables. For an analysis with the MANOVA or REPEATED statement, or with the MANOVA option in the PROC ANOVA statement, the ANOVA procedure requires values for all dependent variables to be nonmissing for an observation before the observation can be used in the analysis.

During processing, PROC ANOVA groups the dependent variables by their pattern of missing values across observations so that sums and cross products can be collected in the most efficient manner.

If your data have different patterns of missing values among the dependent variables, interactivity is disabled. This could occur when some of the variables in your data set have missing values and either of the following conditions obtain:

  • You do not use the MANOVA option in the PROC ANOVA statement.

  • You do not use a MANOVA or REPEATED statement before the first RUN statement.