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Combining p-values via averaging

Author

Listed:
  • Vladimir Vovk
  • Ruodu Wang

Abstract

SummaryThis paper proposes general methods for the problem of multiple testing of a single hypothesis, with a standard goal of combining a number of $p$-values without making any assumptions about their dependence structure. A result by Rüschendorf (1982) and, independently, Meng (1993) implies that the $p$-values can be combined by scaling up their arithmetic mean by a factor of 2, and no smaller factor is sufficient in general. A similar result by Mattner about the geometric mean replaces 2 by e. Based on more recent developments in mathematical finance, specifically, robust risk aggregation techniques, we extend these results to generalized means; in particular, we show that $K$ $p$-values can be combined by scaling up their harmonic mean by a factor of $\log K$ asymptotically as $K$ tends to infinity. This leads to a generalized version of the Bonferroni–Holm procedure. We also explore methods using weighted averages of $p$-values. Finally, we discuss the efficiency of various methods of combining $p$-values and how to choose a suitable method in light of data and prior information.

Suggested Citation

  • Vladimir Vovk & Ruodu Wang, 0. "Combining p-values via averaging," Biometrika, Biometrika Trust, vol. 107(4), pages 791-808.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:biomet:v:107:y::i:4:p:791-808.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/biomet/asaa027
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Anders Bredahl Kock & David Preinerstorfer, 2021. "Superconsistency of Tests in High Dimensions," Papers 2106.03700, arXiv.org, revised Jan 2022.
    2. Jose Blanchet & Henry Lam & Yang Liu & Ruodu Wang, 2020. "Convolution Bounds on Quantile Aggregation," Papers 2007.09320, arXiv.org, revised May 2023.
    3. DiCiccio, Cyrus J. & DiCiccio, Thomas J. & Romano, Joseph P., 2020. "Exact tests via multiple data splitting," Statistics & Probability Letters, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    4. Yuyu Chen & Peng Liu & Yang Liu & Ruodu Wang, 2020. "Ordering and Inequalities for Mixtures on Risk Aggregation," Papers 2007.12338, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2021.

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