Two way ANOVA for unbalanced designs

Is there a relationship between bedrock type and lung cancer rates? Data are collected from 26 counties in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. Archer (Archives of Environmental Health, 1987, 42:87-91) found a relationship between lung cancer rates and the underlying bedrock type: counties over Reading Prong granite had more cancer. Since these granites emit radon, a potent carcinogen, it seems plausible that radon from the Reading Prong bedrock causes higher cancer rates.

For the dataset, bedrock.txt, the following variables are measured:

  1. County
  2. State
  3. Lung cancer: White female lung cancer rate per 100,000 per year, 1950-1969
  4. Bedrock area: Reading Prong areas overlie granite bedrock that has been associated with high indoor radon concentrations. Fringe areas border the Reading Prong, and control areas lie outside it.
  5. Mean house radon: Cohen (Archives of Environmental Health, 1988, 43:313-314) reports mean radon concentrations in pCi/L, for living areas of hundreds of individual houses within each county. Categories used here are: low (0-1.5); mid (1.6-2.4); and high (over 2.5). In five counties, Cohen's means are based on fewer than 10 houses.
Fit the following ANOVA models and bring them to class:
  1. Compare the sums of squares for Mean.House and for Bedrock.Area under each model.
  2. Review the model selection handout from class, stepping through the model selection process.
    Last modified: Sun Nov 2 21:08:51 EST 2003