What is scaleboot?
scaleboot is an add-on package of R. This is for calculating approximately unbiased (AU) p-values from a set of multiscale bootstrap probabilities for a hypothesis. Scaling is equivalent to changing the sample size of data set in bootstrap resampling. We calculate bootstrap probabilities at several scales, from which a very accurate p-value is calculated. This multiscale bootstrap method has been implemented in CONSEL software and pvclust package. The thrust of scaleboot package is to calculate an improved version of AU p-values which are justified even for hypotheses with nonsmooth boundaries by taking care of the singularity.
scaleboot package includes an interface to pvclust package of R for bootstrapping hierarchical clustering. We use pvclust to calculate multiscale bootstrap probabilities, from which we calculate an improved version of AU p-values using scaleboot.
scaleboot has a front end for phylogenetic inference, and it can replace CONSEL software for testing phylogenetic trees. Currently, scaleboot does not have a method for file conversion of several phylogenetic software, and so we must use CONSEL for this purpose before applying scaleboot to calculate an improved version of AU p-values for trees and edges.
The package vignette "Multiscale Bootstrap Using Scaleboot Package" (usesb.pdf) explains the methodology. It includes a simple example for illustration. It also includes real applications in hierarchical clustering and phylogenetic inference. Further description is given in Shimodaira (2008). For the use of scaleboot, Shimodaira (2008) may be referenced.
The official website of scaleboot is http://stat.sys.i.kyoto-u.ac.jp/prog/scaleboot/
The CRAN site is http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/scaleboot/
The package is now developped at the github site http://github.com/shimo-lab/scaleboot