Abstract

Resampling-based expression pathway analysis techniques have been shown to preserve type I error, in contrast to simple gene-list approaches which implicitly assume independence of genes in ranked lists. However, resampling is intensive in computation time and memory requirements. We describe highly accurate analytic approximations to permutations of score statistics, including novel approaches for Pearson correlation and summed score statistics, that have good performance for even relatively small sample sizes. In addition, the approach provides insight into the permutation approach itself, and summary properties of the data that largely determine the behavior of the statistics. Within the framework of the SAFE pathway analysis procedure, our approach preserves the essence of permutation analysis, but with greatly reduced computation. Extensions to include covariates are described, and we test the performance of our procedures using simulations based on real datasets of modest size.

Keywords: gene set analysis; permutation; hypothesis testing.

Disciplines

Statistical Methodology | Statistical Theory

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