Statistical Analysis of Mahalanobis Distances of Students from their Fathers

A random sample of eleventh-grade students were asked about certain work values. For a subsample of these students, their fathers were also asked about the same work values. A question raised in the study was whether eleventh-grade students were closer to their fathers or to their age group with regard to those work values. To answer this question, we suggest a method based on Mahalanobis distances; two aspects of the problem are discussed. First, how the distances are constructed; second, which statistical procedures apply for assessing significant differences among the distances. Formal statistical tests are employed, as well as graphical methods for summarizing the results. Unlike classical methods, the procedure suggested does not require distributional assumptions.