Date:         Wed, 23 Jul 2003 23:11:34 GMT
Reply-To:     Arthur Tabachneck <atabachneck@ROGERS.COM>
Sender:       "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From:         Arthur Tabachneck <atabachneck@ROGERS.COM>
Subject:      Re: Reason for transforming variables

Tomasz,

Since normality is an assumption of many statistics, and many variables
don't normally have normal distributions (but would if transformed e.g.,
using a square root or log transformation), SAS provides a means for
performing such transformations on the fly.

The key question is whether your data resemble distributions for which such
transformations are applicable (e.g., skewed or Poisson).

Art
-----------
"Tomasz" <zombek_1@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:4695d75.0307231158.4bc70d41@posting.google.com...
> Dear SAS-L,
>
> Working with Enterprise Miner I have found a Variable Transform Node.
> Due to the lack of information on the internet I am posting my
> question on this forum.
>
> What is the reason for transforming variables into normally
> distributed?
> I think this will affect the results of my analysis. Is it better to
> transform or not. I could not find any paper saying clearly about the
> raesons for transformations, only statments: "it is commonly used..."
> But I wonder why.
>
> If any of you faced this kind of problem, please let me know your
> suggestions.
>
> Tomasz