Hypothesis testing in b-spline regression

Abstract

Linea0r combinations of B-spline coefficients which provide statistically meaningful hypothesis tests are identified. These tests include the importance of breakpoints, continuity constraints, and higher order terms.The important linear combinations turn out to be contrasts whose coefficients are determined by differencing the left- and right-hand limits of the B-splines or their derivatives at certain knots. A FORTRAN program for testing single degree of freedom hypotheses is discussed.

Keywords:

• splines
• regression
• hypothesis testing