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Bias in the estimation of heritability from truncated samples of twins

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Abstract

Sampling twins from a truncated distribution and ignoring this truncation in the estimation procedure lowers correlation coefficients and can considerably bias estimates of the proportions of genetic and environmental variance. A greater proportion of DZ than MZ twins will be missed in sampling for any heritable trait. The implications for two published sets of educational achievement data are considered.

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Martin, N.G., Wilson, S.R. Bias in the estimation of heritability from truncated samples of twins. Behav Genet 12, 467–472 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01065638

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01065638

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