\Header{se.contrast}{Standard Errors for Contrasts in Model Terms}
\methalias{se.contrast.aov}{se.contrast}
\methalias{se.contrast.aovlist}{se.contrast}
\keyword{models}{se.contrast}
\begin{Description}\relax
Returns the standard errors for one or more contrasts in an \code{aov}
object.\end{Description}
\begin{Usage}
\begin{verbatim}
se.contrast(object, ...)
se.contrast(object, contrast.obj,
  coef = contr.helmert(ncol(contrast))[, 1], data = NULL, ...) 
\end{verbatim}
\end{Usage}
\begin{Arguments}
\begin{ldescription}
\item[\code{object}] A suitable fit, usually from \code{aov}.
\item[\code{contrast.obj}] The contrasts for which standard errors are
requested. This can be specified via a list or via a matrix. A single
contrast can be specified by a list of logical vectors giving the
cells to be contrasted.  Multiple contrasts should be specified by a
matrix, each column of which is a numerical contrast vector (summing
to zero).

\item[\code{coef}] Used when \code{\{contrast.obj\}} is a list; it should be a
vector of the same length as the list with zero sum. The default
value is the first Helmert contrast, which contrasts the first and
second cell means specified by the list.
\item[\code{data}] The data frame used to evaluate \code{contrast.obj}.
\item[\code{...}] further arguments passed to or from other methods.
\end{ldescription}
\end{Arguments}
\begin{Details}\relax
Contrasts are usually used to test if certain means are
significantly different; it can be easier to use \code{se.contrast}
than compute them directly from the coefficients.

In multistratum models, the contrasts can appear in more than one
stratum; the contrast and standard error are computed in the lowest
stratum and adjusted for efficiencies and comparisons between strata.

Suitable matrices for use with \code{coef} can be found by
calling \code{\Link{contrasts}} and indexing the columns by a factor.\end{Details}
\begin{Value}
A vector giving the standard errors for each contrast.\end{Value}
\begin{Author}\relax
B. D. Ripley\end{Author}
\begin{SeeAlso}\relax
\code{\Link{contrasts}},
\code{\Link{model.tables}}\end{SeeAlso}
\begin{Examples}
\begin{ExampleCode}
## From Venables and Ripley (1997) p.210.
N <- c(0,1,0,1,1,1,0,0,0,1,1,0,1,1,0,0,1,0,1,0,1,1,0,0)
P <- c(1,1,0,0,0,1,0,1,1,1,0,0,0,1,0,1,1,0,0,1,0,1,1,0)
K <- c(1,0,0,1,0,1,1,0,0,1,0,1,0,1,1,0,0,0,1,1,1,0,1,0)
yield <- c(49.5,62.8,46.8,57.0,59.8,58.5,55.5,56.0,62.8,55.8,69.5,
55.0, 62.0,48.8,45.5,44.2,52.0,51.5,49.8,48.8,57.2,59.0,53.2,56.0)

npk <- data.frame(block = gl(6,4), N = factor(N), P = factor(P),
                  K = factor(K), yield = yield)
options(contrasts=c("contr.treatment", "contr.poly"))
npk.aov1 <- aov(yield ~ block + N + K, npk)
se.contrast(npk.aov1, list(N=="0", N=="1"), data=npk)
# or via a matrix
cont <- matrix(c(-1,1), 2, 1, dimnames=list(NULL, "N"))
se.contrast(npk.aov1, cont[N, , drop=FALSE]/12, data=npk)

## test a multi-stratum model
npk.aov2 <- aov(yield ~ N + K + Error(block/(N + K)), npk)
se.contrast(npk.aov2, list(N == "0", N == "1"))
\end{ExampleCode}
\end{Examples}

