Professor Oksanen:

Thanks for the reply and sorry for the confusion! (I'm still trying to wrap
my head around the multivariate lingo.)


1.)  The scores from my NMDS analysis are non-normal (tested using the
multivariate Shapiro-Wilks test.)
2 and 3)  I am using these scores as input for the Cluster Analysis (Ward's
Method) to define several different groups.  One of the underlying
assumptions associated with Wards algorithm is that the input is normal.

So, the question is, is it okay to "ignore" that assumption (normality of
input data) to define the groups?  Since I used the MMRP test
(nonparametric) to show there is a difference between the groups, it seems
like this is reasonable.  However, I wasn't quite sure.

Thanks Again!
Nate Jones

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