My previous post described the multinomial distribution and showed how to generate random data from the multinomial distribution in SAS by using the RANDMULTINOMIAL function in SAS/IML software. The RANDMULTINOMIAL function is simple to use and implements an efficient algorithm called the sequential conditional marginal method (see Gentle (2003), p.
With the pervasiveness of mobile devices, being able to read while “on the go” has been easier than ever. How many times have you found yourself in a situation where you pass the time waiting by reading something on your phone/iPad/tablet etc? With eBooks on my iPad, I find that
As promised, here is a better combined AE-CM graph, using some of the UI improvements suggested by our UI expert, Riley. His suggestions helped to reduce the clutter in the graph, while still keeping all the features preferred by our users. Click on the graphs for a higher resolution image.
Over the last few posts, Lee Ann has been exploring how to marry business strategy with day to day pricing decisions. This week, I’m going to take this discussion in another direction by describing how pricing decisions are made, and the importance of strategic pricing in another industry – sports.
Celebrations happen throughout the year. Here at SAS, we like to celebrate our users. The global Circle of Excellence program was started a little over a year ago to achieve this goal. We have been getting stories from you guys and posting them. Well, a new group for 2013 has
This article describes how to generate random samples from the multinomial distribution in SAS. The content is taken from Chapter 8 of my book Simulating Data with SAS. The multinomial distribution is a discrete multivariate distribution. Suppose there are k different types of items in a box, such as a
This week's SAS tip is from Ron Cody and his very popular book Learning SAS by Example: A Programmer's Guide. If you haven't yet discovered Ron Cody's work, you're missing out. Fortunately, you can learn a lot more about Ron and his many books--as well as view bonus content here. The following excerpt
With the release of SAS 9.4 (which included SAS/STAT 12.3 and SAS Enterprise Guide 6.1), you might seriously consider hiring a Chief Versions Officer (CVO). Fortunately, most of the recent versions of SAS Enterprise Guide work with the different recent versions of SAS, so you have some flexibility as you
Missing San Francisco already? I caught up with the SAS Global Forum 2013 paper winners and asked them to share some of their insights about their work, the conference and what they took away from the experience. To kick off this series, I've posted their words of wisdom for other SAS Users. The question was
Our perceptions can impact others and influence decisions. As a result, I always like to understand each customer's perception of what SAS is and what we do. There is no right or wrong answer to this question, however the response provides me with a chance to listen to our customers.
How old is your version of SAS software? The graph on the left shows the release dates for various releases of SAS software, beginning with SAS 8.0. The graph is based on a graph on Jiangtang Hu's blog that shows the major SAS releases. As this graph demonstrates, SAS software
Industry-changing dynamics like mobility, smart products, social media and embedded computing put a premium on big data and the insights you can gain from organizational data. As a result, the opportunity to be disruptive with analytics has never been greater. Yet, when it comes to making analytics work, not all organizations
At the SAS Global Forum 2013 in San Francisco, I presented a paper on making Patient Profile Graphs using SAS. You can follow the link to see the graphs presented in this paper. In that paper, I presented ways to create AE, CM, VS and Lab graphs. I discussed aligning the
Previously I've described how you can use SAS Enterprise Guide to send an e-mail message using Gmail as your e-mail provider. In the article, I mentioned that you can also write SAS programs that send e-mail messages, but at the time you could not reach Gmail using the FILENAME EMAIL
Users often ask if there are any major tuning efforts that need to be made in order for SAS to execute ideally in a virtual environment. The quick answer is "not really". The longer answer is “it helps to set up your virtual environment properly.” There are a few minor
Do you have dozens (or even hundreds) of SAS data sets that you want to read into SAS/IML matrices? In a previous blog post, I showed how to iterate over a series of data sets and analyze each one. Inside the loop, I read each data set into a matrix
I travel to many conferences throughout the year, and I’ve heard a lot of keynote speeches. Many of them stick with me for a few hours. But one speech I heard three years ago stuck with me for weeks. And then I heard it again at a regional conference. I
From an Enterprise Guide user's perspective, a SAS library is a library. Whether it was defined in the autoexec or in the metadata or by magic, it is there for them to use with no issues. However, there is a difference as metadata defined libraries do not behave in the
One of my favorite features of SAS/IML 12.1 (released with 9.3m2) is that the USE and CLOSE statements support reading data set names that are specified in a SAS/IML matrix. The IMLPlus language in SAS/IML Studio has supported this syntax since the early 2000s, so I am pleased that this
This week's SAS tip is from Michele Burlew and her latest book SAS Hash Object Programming Made Easy. Michele is the author of several extremely helpful SAS books. Visit her author page to read free chapters and for additional bonus content. The following excerpt is from SAS Press author Michele
The truncated normal distribution TN(μ, σ, a, b) is the distribution of a normal random variable with mean μ and standard deviation σ that is truncated on the interval [a, b]. I previously blogged about how to implement the truncated normal distribution in SAS. A friend wanted to simulate data
In previous versions of SAS, if you wanted to experiment with creating U.S. maps in Proc GMAP, there wasn't any good sample data available. Unless you had your own data available, you probably ended up using the maps.us x/y points as your DATA= ... which is sort of a nonsense
Would you like to know how some of the largest and most successful organizations are getting value from their big data? Tune in to AllAnalytics.com today at 2 p.m. ET (US) to find out. In their recently published research report, Big Data in Big Companies, renowned analytics thought-leader Tom Davenport
Christina Harvey recently forwarded this question from SAS user Bob Wasicak to several administrators here at SAS: “Does the metadata layer capture the number of login's per user? And how can I get at it? I have been using the metadata browser but would like to write a query to extract
Tofu can be a great addition to your protein rotation. I love tofu! I've been eating it for almost 20 years and have tried it almost any way you could think of. I am always amazed when people turn up their nose at tofu, and they’ve never even tried it!
This article describes how to implement the truncated normal distribution in SAS. Although the implementation in this article uses the SAS/IML language, you can also implement the ideas and formulas by using the DATA step and PROC FCMP. For reference, I recommend the Wikipedia article on the truncated normal distribution.
We know that it is a struggle to gain insight from massive amounts of data. Businesses need the value that analytics provide and want to include analytics in day-to-day decision making in order to gain insights and improve business performance. Data visualization and reporting are like the “easy button” for businesses
Professional development, popularity, untold fame: the benefits of submitting a paper to a SAS conference are certainly varied and widespread! In a recent SAS Users LinkedIn discussion started by David Corliss, avid SAS users and former presenters discussed their motivations for writing, researching and presenting papers. From the many wonderful
Over the past six months, my free time was devoted to training. This impacted my blog posting frequency but the training helped me successfully complete the inaugural Raleigh Ironman 70.3 in June. When thinking back through how this happened, I noticed many parallels to successfully implementing software for organizations. If
There are many techniques for generating random variates from a specified probability distribution such as the normal, exponential, or gamma distribution. However, one technique stands out because of its generality and simplicity: the inverse CDF sampling technique. If you know the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of a probability distribution, then
