Solved – Mahalanobis Distances Critical Values (Chi-Squared?)

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Say I work out the mahalanobis distance 'D' to measure the separation between two objects (which aren't normally distributed).

Say I now want to use 'D' against some critical values to decide if it's an outlier or not.

I've read that using Chi-Square Distribution is one way, using N-1 degree of freedom and converting the distance to Chi-square p values. However, it states that because isn't normally distributed some conversion is recommended.

In cases where the predictor variables are not normally distributed, the >conversion to Chi-square p-values serves to recode the Mahalanobis >distances to a 0-1 scale. Mahalanobis distances themselves have no upper >limit, so this rescaling may be convenient for some analyses.

In my case, where I have one distance 'D' and I can't re-scale it, is using the above still advisable?

If if it advisable, could one briefly explain the conversion where e.g., N=2 (used in degree of freedom N-1?) to get some critical value and what it represents?

If it isn't, what alternative method could I use to generate some critical values?

Best Answer

You need to have some assumed distribution, normal or not, in which to compare your 'D' to. If you only have one D and no other information, then there's no way to tell whether it's an outlier or not. If you have information about the population distances then your first step would probably be to plot the distances in a boxplot, then overlay your one D and see where it lies in terms of a percentile. Then you could use that information to deem whether it's an outlier in the practical and contextual sense.