ABSTRACT
In the context of linkage analysis, a nonparametric method is a technique for estab-
lishing linkage that does not require specification of the mode of transmission. This
is in contrast to the previous methods in which we had to specify if the disease was
recessive or dominant (or perhaps the penetrance was specified). A common feature
of nonparametricmethods is the use of small, nuclear families as opposed to the large
multigeneration families used in parametric linkage analysis.
