These functions are used for creating contrast matrices for use in
fitting regression models. The columns of the
resulting matrices contain contrasts which can be used for coding a
factor with n levels. contr.cum gives a coding corresponding to successive differences
between factor levels.
contr.diff gives a coding that correspond to the cumulative sum
of the value for each level. This is not meaningful in a model where the
intercept is included, therefore n columns ia always returned.
contr.2nd gives contrasts corresponding to 2nd order differences
between factor levels. Returns a matrix with n-2 columns.
contr.orth gives a matrix with n-2 columns, which are
mutually orthogonal and orthogonal to the matrix cbind(1,1:n)