These functions are used for creating contrast matrices for use in
fitting regression models. The columns of the
resulting matrices contain contrasts which can be used for coding a
factor with n
levels. contr.cum
gives a coding corresponding to successive differences
between factor levels.
contr.diff
gives a coding that correspond to the cumulative sum
of the value for each level. This is not meaningful in a model where the
intercept is included, therefore n
columns ia always returned.
contr.2nd
gives contrasts corresponding to 2nd order differences
between factor levels. Returns a matrix with n-2
columns.
contr.orth
gives a matrix with n-2
columns, which are
mutually orthogonal and orthogonal to the matrix cbind(1,1:n)