I've been working on a new book about Simulating Data with SAS. In researching the chapter on simulation of multivariate data, I've noticed that the probability density function (PDF) of multivariate distributions is often specified in a matrix form. Consequently, the multivariate density can usually be computed by using the
Spark lines, made popular by Edward Tufte, provide a way to visualize trends in a concise space, often inline with the rest of the narrative or data. Previously, I posted an article on Spark Plots in which I created different plot types, some of which included multiple graphs and data in each row. For such
Earlier this month SAS announced some really big news: DataFlux®, which has delivered market-leading data management solutions to customers for more than a decade, is now fully integrated into the SAS organization. The combination of the two brands helps customers build an integrated information management strategy supporting data management and
I just received this note in my inbox and wanted to make sure you also have all up-to-the-minute details about the SAS Professionals Convention: Dear SAS Professional, This year's SAS Professionals Convention is just over a week away. Although we've sold out of tickets for Tuesday, places are still available for
When I need to graph a function of two variables, I often choose to use a contour plot. A surface plot is probably easier for many people to understand, but it has several disadvantages when compared to a contour plot. For example, the following statements in SAS/IML Studio displays a
It's so important for companies to build what customers want rather than build a product and then convince the market to buy it. So I love it when I hear or read remarks like the one below - SAS has grown with me. That means that we have listened to
I received the following query regarding the RAND function in Base SAS: In SAS, is specifying 0 as a random number seed the same as not specifying a seed at all? The question concerns initializing the SAS random number stream by using the internal system clock. You can do this
We've all heard of her. A little blond girl with a penchant for trespassing, and very finicky preferences in mattresses and breakfast food. Unfortunately, Goldilocks isn't just part of a fairy tale, she is alive, well, and causing havoc throughout government. If you haven't made the connection yet, "bear" with
In 2011-2012, North Carolina became one of many states to restructure their educator evaluation system to incorporate student growth. The NC Department of Public Instruction commissioned the external expertise of WestEd to evaluate various growth models and recommend value-added technology that would help them best meet their mission of using meaningful evaluation to
For all of you whipper snappers (a loving term applied to generations younger than yourself) who haven't been around SAS since the beginning of time - like Phil Miller, Art Carpenter and Kathy Council have - you may not remember when SAS Users Groups conference proceedings weren't offered online. That's right
I often use the SAS/IML language for simulating data with certain known properties. In fact, I'm writing a book called Simulating Data with SAS. When I simulate repeated measurements (sometimes called replicated data), I often want to generate an ID variable that identifies which measurement is associated with which subject
Many of you know Mike Zdeb. He's a long-time SAS user and frequent presenter at SAS conferences. Zdeb is also a reviewer of many SAS Press books and author of his own SAS book, Maps Made Easy Using SAS. Zdeb contacted me after he read the May SAS Tech Report
The Swiss army knife is known for its versatility, with a variety of tools and blades to help you complete the task at hand. When you are creating graphics, you sometimes have a special feature you want to add, but you can't seem to find the right syntax "tool" to
Unlike many of you, data hasn’t always ruled my world. Though I took statistics and economics classes in college, I built my academic career around studying history and writing papers like “The Importance of the Family Dinner in Preserving the Italian Culture among Immigrants.” Don’t laugh; it earned me an
No matter what statistical programming language you use, be careful of testing for an exact value of a floating-point number. This is known in the world of numerical analysis as "10.0 times 0.1 is hardly ever 1.0" (Kernighan and Plauger, 1974, The Elements of Programming Style). There are many examples
According to Janet Stuelpner and Joseph Hantsch, the authors of the 2012 SAS Global Forum paper, One at a Time; Producing Patient Profiles and Narratives, patient profiles are used several ways depending upon the 'customer' need.
A reader wrote for help with a computational problem. He has a vector of length N and the vector contains integer values in the range [1, 120], which represent months for which events occurred over a 10-year period. The question is: what is the 24-month period for which the most
So are you now dreaming big? Coming up with other ideas for how SAS Stored Processes can be leveraged in your installation of SAS? As I mentioned in last week's post, you could use OLAP cubes as a data source for your SAS Stored Process. Here is how I would
This is a third post on newspaper stories that I recently read. Today's post deals with science, politics, and rising sea levels. Incidentally, the title is a blatant reference to John Allen Paulos's brilliant book, A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper. Senate approves law that challenges sea-level science The NC legislature
Can you actually get something for nothing? With PROC SQL’s subquery and remerging features, yes, you can. Often there is a need to add group descriptive statistics such as group counts, minimum and maximum values for further by-group processing. Instead of first creating the group count, minimum or maximum values
One of my new work friends says this frequently. But the statement is lost in his translation from Portuguese, it is not that he does not believe me, it is just that he has questions about how things happen so he can learn. I debate on which version of this
This is my second post on some newspaper articles that I recently read. Today's post deals with academic fraud. Questions linger in academic fraud case Over the past year, the News and Observer has occasionally reported on a scandal at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in which
This past weekend was Father's Day, so I took some time to relax and read the newspaper. I found several stories that suggested interesting statistical questions. Unfortunately, the data are not available for analysis. Nevertheless, the stories are worth sharing. Over the next few days, I'll post my thoughts on
Wizard Harry Potter makes magic just waving his wand around and shouting out spells. Using SAS Enterprise Guide (and you are welcome to shout out your own commands too) you can create some magic, allowing the Stored Process Wizard to code for you. On Step 2, the "Include code for"
To celebrate special occasions like Father's Day, I like to relax with a cup of coffee and read the newspaper. When I looked at the weather page, I was astonished by the seeming uniformity of temperatures across the contiguous US. The weather map in my newspaper was almost entirely yellow
Statistical graphs often include display of derived statistics along with the raw data. Often these statistics are presented in a tabular format inside the graph. With SGPLOT procedure, a table of statistics can be added to the graph as an inset table, as shown below. Using a Stat Table: SGPLOT code:
In the video below, you'll hear a great explanation from SAS CTO Keith Collins about the benefits of high-performance analytics, and why it's not just about getting answers faster. He also tells interviewer Karin Reed which SAS procedures are being optimized for high-performance analytics and provides up dates about big
The first time that I saw a demonstration of SAS Visual Analytics Explorer was awesome, but it didn't give me goosebumps. I got goosebumps the size of golfballs during SAS Global Forum Opening Session when Dr. Goodnight sat down at a computer screen and began to demonstrate how effortlessly users can
After some discussion with SAS Product Marketing yesterday, we devised this response to everyone's question about the Business Analytic differentiator that SAS provides. ********************************************************************************************************* Business Intelligence is one of the key components from SAS that ties into a suite of analytic techniques, information handling and performance infrastructures needed to deliver
ODS Graphics components like GTL and SG procedures are designed to work with Styles to create graphs that are effective in the delivery of information and aesthetically pleasing out of the box. You no longer have to tweak the colors to ensure a nice graph. The graph derives all the
