A unified approach to nonparametric trend tests for dependent and independent samples

We consider testing nonparametric hypotheses against ordered alternatives and propose a new unified approach for dependent and independent samples and factorial designs. The new approach allows for arbitrary underlying distributions, including quantitative and discrete ordinal (ordered categorical), or even binary data. It is compared to procedures available in the literature and applied to different data examples. The new method is not only invariant under monotone transformations of the response, but also under monotone transformations of the weights describing the alternative pattern.