What are some disadvantages of using nonparametric analysis

What are some disadvantages of using non-parametric analysis (versus parametric)?

Solution

In my experience, they are both useful in different situations.

Where you can confidently say that the data come from a specified probability model, then parametric statistics will usually give you more information. However, they can also lead to significantly biased conclusions if the wrong model is used.

Non-parametric statistics, on the other hand, require fewer assumptions about the data, and consequently will prove better in situations where the true distribution is unknown or cannot be easily approximated using a probability distribution.

All in all, I prefer making as few assumptions as possible, so I tend to prefer non-parametric approaches.