Alternative methodology for Scott-Knott test

Abstract

The test proposed by Scott Knott (1974), a procedure of means grouping, is an effective alternative to perform procedures of multiple comparisons without ambiguity. This study aimed to propose a modification related to the partitioning and means grouping in the said procedure, to obtain results without ambiguity among treatments, organized in more homogeneous groups. In the proposed methodology, treatments that did not participate in the initial group are joined for a new analysis, which allows for a better group distribution. In a comparative study, four experiments were simulated in a randomized complete block design. The first consisted of 10 and the other 3 of 100 treatments. All experiments were performed in three replications at a significance level of 0.05 for the means grouping test. Only in the third experiment of those of 100 treatments the groups formed by Scott-Knott did not differ from the methodology proposed here. The proposed methodology is considered effective, aiming at the identification of elite cultivar groups for recommendation.