[R] Specifying an lme model

[BORGULYA Gábor]

Dear Ross,

I think I can not answer your question, but I have three ideas that 
might be useful:

1. Cluster randomized trials often ask similar questions. Having a look 
at CRT methods may suggest you a solution.
2. Similar questions may arise in time series analysis. I wouldn't be 
surprised if a standard tool for time series could solve your problem.
3. I like maximum likelihood methods so I find it interesting to treat 
the question as minimising three likelihood functions. You could use the 
likelihood-ratio test to test significance.

I hope you find something useful from the above.

Gábor