The DO Loop

Analytics

Find out how analytics, from data mining to cognitive computing, is changing the way we do business

Rick WicklinMarch 7, 2018 11

Data analysts often fit a probability distribution to data. When you have access to the data, a common technique is to use maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to compute the parameters of a distribution that are "most likely" to have produced the observed data. However, how can you fit a distribution

English

Analytics | Programming Tips

Rick WicklinMarch 5, 2018 6

The probability of a saddle point in a matrix

Many people know that a surface can contain a saddle point, but did you know that you can define the saddle point of a matrix? Saddle points in matrices are somewhat rare, which means that if you choose a random matrix you are unlikely to choose one that has a

English

Analytics | Programming Tips

Solve nonlinear system of equations in SAS

Rick WicklinFebruary 28, 2018 3

Solve a system of nonlinear equations with SAS

This article shows how to use SAS to solve a system of nonlinear equations. When there are n unknowns and n equations, this problem is equivalent to finding a multivariate root of a vector-valued function F(x) = 0 because you can always write the system as f1(x1, x2, ..., xn)

English

Analytics | Programming Tips

Quantiles are the solutions to the equation CDF(x)-p=0, where p is a probability

Rick WicklinFebruary 19, 2018 3

Compute the quantiles of any distribution

Your statistical software probably provides a function that computes quantiles of common probability distributions such as the normal, exponential, and beta distributions. Because there are infinitely many probability distributions, you might encounter a distribution for which a built-in quantile function is not implemented. No problem! This article shows how to

English

Analytics | Learn SAS

Rick WicklinFebruary 14, 2018 13

The difference between CLASS statements and BY statements in SAS

When I first learned to program in SAS, I remember being confused about the difference between CLASS statements and BY statements. A novice SAS programmer recently asked when to use one instead of the other, so this article explains the difference between the CLASS statement and BY variables in SAS

English

Analytics | Data Visualization

Rick WicklinFebruary 7, 2018 0

The distribution of shared birthdays in the Birthday Problem

If N random people are in a room, the classical birthday problem provides the probability that at least two people share a birthday. The birthday problem does not consider how many birthdays are in common. However, a generalization (sometimes called the Multiple-Birthday Problem) examines the distribution of the number of

English

Analytics | Programming Tips

Rick WicklinJanuary 15, 2018 4

Data unavailable? Use the "eyeball distribution" to simulate

Last week I got the following message: Dear Rick: How can I create a normal distribution within a specified range (min and max)? I need to simulate a normal distribution that fits within a specified range. I realize that a normal distribution is by definition infinite... Are there any alternatives,

English

Analytics | Data Visualization | Learn SAS

Rick WicklinDecember 20, 2017 4

How to create a sliced fit plot in SAS

I previously showed an easy way to visualize a regression model that has several continuous explanatory variables: use the SLICEFIT option in the EFFECTPLOT statement in SAS to create a sliced fit plot. The EFFECTPLOT statement is directly supported by the syntax of the GENMOD, LOGISTIC, and ORTHOREG procedures in

English

Analytics | Data Visualization | Learn SAS

Visualize multivariate regression model by slicing the continuous variables. Graph created by using the EFFECTPLOT SLICEFIT statement in SAS.

Rick WicklinDecember 18, 2017 6

Visualize multivariate regression models by slicing continuous variables

Slice, slice, baby! You've got to slice, slice, baby! When you fit a regression model that has multiple explanatory variables, it is a challenge to effectively visualize the predicted values. This article describes how to visualize the regression model by slicing the explanatory variables. In SAS, you can use the

English

Analytics

Bias in regression for mean-imputed explanatory variables

Rick WicklinDecember 6, 2017 1

3 problems with mean imputation

In a previous article, I showed how to use SAS to perform mean imputation. However, there are three problems with using mean-imputed variables in statistical analyses: Mean imputation reduces the variance of the imputed variables. Mean imputation shrinks standard errors, which invalidates most hypothesis tests and the calculation of confidence

English

Blogs

Blogs

Analytics