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Breaking the Circularity in Circular Analyses: Simulations and Formal Treatment of the Flattened Average Approach

Bowman, Howard, Brooks, Joseph L, Hajilou, Omid, Zoumpoulaki, Alexia, Litvak, Vladimir (2020) Breaking the Circularity in Circular Analyses: Simulations and Formal Treatment of the Flattened Average Approach. PLoS Computational Biology, 16 (11). Article Number e1008286. ISSN 1553-734X. E-ISSN 1553-7358. (doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008286) (KAR id:82894)

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Abstract

There has been considerable debate and concern as to whether there is a replication crisis in the scientific literature. A likely cause of poor replication is the multiple comparisons problem. An important way in which this problem can manifest in the M/EEG context is through post hoc tailoring of analysis windows (a.k.a. regions-of-interest, ROIs) to landmarks in the collected data. Post hoc tailoring of ROIs is used because it allows researchers to adapt to inter-experiment variability and discover novel differences that fall outside of windows defined by prior precedent, thereby reducing Type II errors. However, this approach can dramatically inflate Type I error rates. One way to avoid this problem is to tailor windows according to a contrast that is orthogonal (strictly parametrically orthogonal) to the contrast being tested. A key approach of this kind is to identify windows on a fully flattened average. On the basis of simulations, this approach has been argued to be safe for post hoc tailoring of analysis windows under many conditions. Here, we present further simulations and mathematical proofs to show exactly why the Fully Flattened Average approach is unbiased, providing a formal grounding to the approach, clarifying the limits of its applicability and resolving published misconceptions about the method. We also provide a statistical power analysis, which shows that, in specific contexts, the fully flattened average approach provides higher statistical power than Fieldtrip cluster inference. This suggests that the Fully Flattened Average approach will enable researchers to identify more effects from their data without incurring an inflation of the false positive rate.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008286
Uncontrolled keywords: neuroimaging analysis, region of interest, double dipping, orthogonal contrast, EEG
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Computing, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences > School of Computing
Depositing User: Howard Bowman
Date Deposited: 13 Sep 2020 22:13 UTC
Last Modified: 04 Jul 2023 12:49 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/82894 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Bowman, Howard.

Creator's ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4736-1869
CReDIT Contributor Roles:

Brooks, Joseph L.

Creator's ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5364-3611
CReDIT Contributor Roles:

Hajilou, Omid.

Creator's ORCID:
CReDIT Contributor Roles:
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