''Discriminant analysis'' (DA) attempts to determine an allocation rule to classify multivariate data vectors into a set of predefined classes, with a minimum probability of misclassification.<ref name=Davis_1986>Davis, J. C., 1986, Statistics and data analysis in geology: New York, John Wiley, 646 p.</ref> Consider a set of n samples with P quantities being measured on each. Suppose that the n samples are divided into m classes or groups. Discriminant analysis consists of two steps: | ''Discriminant analysis'' (DA) attempts to determine an allocation rule to classify multivariate data vectors into a set of predefined classes, with a minimum probability of misclassification.<ref name=Davis_1986>Davis, J. C., 1986, Statistics and data analysis in geology: New York, John Wiley, 646 p.</ref> Consider a set of n samples with P quantities being measured on each. Suppose that the n samples are divided into m classes or groups. Discriminant analysis consists of two steps: |