Numerical evaluation of cytologic data: II. Comparison of profiles

Results of cytologic studies are often presented as profiles of some type. The numerical characterization of these profiles may be statistically compared using methods of multivariate analysis. This article describes the determination of the statistically significant differences between portions of profiles, the computation of the Mahalanobis distance measure between profiles and the use of the chi-square statistic as a measure of the typicality of a profile. Fully worked numerical examples suitable for execution on a pocket calculator are given.