This book is devoted to biased sampling problems (also called choice-based sampling in Econometrics parlance) and over-identified parameter estimation problems. Biased sampling problems appear in many areas of research, including Medicine, Epidemiology and Public Health, the Social Sciences and Economics. The book addresses a range of important topics, including case and control studies, causal inference, missing data problems, meta-analysis, renewal process and length biased sampling problems, capture and recapture problems, case cohort studies, exponential tilting genetic mixture models etc. The goal of this book is to make it easier for Ph. D students and new researchers to get started in this research area. It will be of interest to all those who work in the health, biological, social and physical sciences, as well as those who are interested in survey methodology and other areas of statistical science, among others.
This book presents a systematic and unified approach for modern nonparametric treatment of missing and modified data via examples of density and hazard rate estimation, nonparametric regression, filtering signals, and time series analysis. All basic types of missing at random and not at random, biasing, truncation, censoring, and measurement errors are discussed, and their treatment is explained. Ten chapters of the book cover basic cases of direct data, biased data, nondestructive and destructive missing, survival data modified by truncation and censoring, missing survival data, stationary and nonstationary time series and processes, and ill-posed modifications. The coverage is suitable for self-study or a one-semester course for graduate students with a prerequisite of a standard course in introductory probability. Exercises of various levels of difficulty will be helpful for the instructor and self-study. The book is primarily about practically important small samples. It explains when consistent estimation is possible, and why in some cases missing data should be ignored and why others must be considered. If missing or data modification makes consistent estimation impossible, then the author explains what type of action is needed to restore the lost information. The book contains more than a hundred figures with simulated data that explain virtually every setting, claim, and development. The companion R software package allows the reader to verify, reproduce and modify every simulation and used estimators. This makes the material fully transparent and allows one to study it interactively. Sam Efromovich is the Endowed Professor of Mathematical Sciences and the Head of the Actuarial Program at the University of Texas at Dallas. He is well known for his work on the theory and application of nonparametric curve estimation and is the author of Nonparametric Curve Estimation: Methods, Theory, and Applications. Professor Sam Efromovich is a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics and the American Statistical Association.
We are living in a digital era in which most of our daily activities take place online. This has created a big data phenomenon that has been subject to scientific research with increasingly available tools and processing power. As a result, a growing number of social science scholars are using computational methods for analyzing social behavior. To further the area, these evolving methods must be made known to sociological research scholars. Opportunities and Challenges for Computational Social Science Methods focuses on the implementation of social science methods and the opportunities and challenges of these methods. This book sheds light on the infrastructure that should be built to gain required skillsets, the tools used in computational social sciences, and the methods developed and applied into computational social sciences. Covering topics like computational communication, ecological cognition, and natural language processing, this book is an essential resource for researchers, data scientists, scholars, students, professors, sociologists, and academicians.
This book provides a systematic treatment of the mathematical underpinnings of work in the theory of outbreak dynamics and their control, covering balanced perspectives between theory and practice including new material on contemporary topics in the field of infectious disease modelling. Specifically, it presents a unified mathematical framework linked to the distribution theory of non-negative random variables; the many examples used in the text, are introduced and discussed in light of theoretical perspectives. The book is organized into 9 chapters: The first motivates the presentation of the material on subsequent chapters; Chapter 2-3 provides a review of basic concepts of probability and statistical models for the distributions of continuous lifetime data and the distributions of random counts and counting processes, which are linked to phenomenological models. Chapters 4 focuses on dynamic behaviors of a disease outbreak during the initial phase while Chapters 5-6 broadly cover compartment models to investigate the consequences of epidemics as the outbreak moves beyond the initial phase. Chapter 7 provides a transition between mostly theoretical topics in earlier chapters and Chapters 8 and 9 where the focus is on the data generating processes and statistical issues of fitting models to data as well as specific mathematical epidemic modeling applications, respectively. This book is aimed at a wide audience ranging from graduate students to established scientists from quantitatively-oriented fields of epidemiology, mathematics and statistics. The numerous examples and illustrations make understanding of the mathematics of disease transmission and control accessible. Furthermore, the examples and exercises, make the book suitable for motivated students in applied mathematics, either through a lecture course, or through self-study. This text could be used in graduate schools or special summer schools covering research problems in mathematical biology.
Covering the major topics of evolutionary game theory, Game-Theoretical Models in Biology, Second Edition presents both abstract and practical mathematical models of real biological situations. It discusses the static aspects of game theory in a mathematically rigorous way that is appealing to mathematicians. In addition, the authors explore many applications of game theory to biology, making the text useful to biologists as well. The book describes a wide range of topics in evolutionary games, including matrix games, replicator dynamics, the hawk-dove game, and the prisoner’s dilemma. It covers the evolutionarily stable strategy, a key concept in biological games, and offers in-depth details of the mathematical models. Most chapters illustrate how to use Python to solve various games. Important biological phenomena, such as the sex ratio of so many species being close to a half, the evolution of cooperative behaviour, and the existence of adornments (for example, the peacock’s tail), have been explained using ideas underpinned by game theoretical modelling. Suitable for readers studying and working at the interface of mathematics and the life sciences, this book shows how evolutionary game theory is used in the modelling of these diverse biological phenomena. In this thoroughly revised new edition, the authors have added three new chapters on the evolution of structured populations, biological signalling games, and a topical new chapter on evolutionary models of cancer. There are also new sections on games with time constraints that convert simple games to potentially complex nonlinear ones; new models on extortion strategies for the Iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma and on social dilemmas; and on evolutionary models of vaccination, a timely section given the current Covid pandemic. Features Presents a wide range of biological applications of game theory. Suitable for researchers and professionals in mathematical biology and the life sciences, and as a text for postgraduate courses in mathematical biology. Provides numerous examples, exercises, and Python code.
The three parts of this book on survey methodology combine an introduction to basic sampling theory, engaging presentation of topics that reflect current research trends, and informed discussion of the problems commonly encountered in survey practice. These related aspects of survey methodology rarely appear together under a single connected roof, making this book a unique combination of materials for teaching, research and practice in survey sampling. Basic knowledge of probability theory and statistical inference is assumed, but no prior exposure to survey sampling is required. The first part focuses on the design-based approach to finite population sampling. It contains a rigorous coverage of basic sampling designs, related estimation theory, model-based prediction approach, and model-assisted estimation methods. The second part stems from original research conducted by the authors as well as important methodological advances in the field during the past three decades. Topics include calibration weighting methods, regression analysis and survey weighted estimating equation (EE) theory, longitudinal surveys and generalized estimating equations (GEE) analysis, variance estimation and resampling techniques, empirical likelihood methods for complex surveys, handling missing data and non-response, and Bayesian inference for survey data. The third part provides guidance and tools on practical aspects of large-scale surveys, such as training and quality control, frame construction, choices of survey designs, strategies for reducing non-response, and weight calculation. These procedures are illustrated through real-world surveys. Several specialized topics are also discussed in detail, including household surveys, telephone and web surveys, natural resource inventory surveys, adaptive and network surveys, dual-frame and multiple frame surveys, and analysis of non-probability survey samples. This book is a self-contained introduction to survey sampling that provides a strong theoretical base with coverage of current research trends and pragmatic guidance and tools for conducting surveys.
Mounting failures of replication in social and biological sciences give a new urgency to critically appraising proposed reforms. This book pulls back the cover on disagreements between experts charged with restoring integrity to science. It denies two pervasive views of the role of probability in inference: to assign degrees of belief, and to control error rates in a long run. If statistical consumers are unaware of assumptions behind rival evidence reforms, they can't scrutinize the consequences that affect them (in personalized medicine, psychology, etc.). The book sets sail with a simple tool: if little has been done to rule out flaws in inferring a claim, then it has not passed a severe test. Many methods advocated by data experts do not stand up to severe scrutiny and are in tension with successful strategies for blocking or accounting for cherry picking and selective reporting. Through a series of excursions and exhibits, the philosophy and history of inductive inference come alive. Philosophical tools are put to work to solve problems about science and pseudoscience, induction and falsification.
Beginning with familiar models and moving onto advanced semiparametric modelling tools Semiparametric Odds Ratio Model and its Applications introduces readers to a new range of flexible statistical models and provides guidance on their application using real data examples. This books range of real-world examples and exploration of common statistical problems makes it an invaluable reference for research professionals and graduate students of biostatistics, statistics, and other quantitative fields. Key Features: Introduces flexible statistical models that have yet to systematically introduced in course materials. Discusses applications of the proposed modelling framework in several important statistical problems, ranging from biased sampling designs and missing data, graphical models, survival analysis, Gibbs sampler and model compatibility, and density estimation. Includes real data examples to demonstrate the use of the proposed models, and estimation and inference tools.
Statistical tools to analyze correlated binary data are spread out in the existing literature. This book makes these tools accessible to practitioners in a single volume. Chapters cover recently developed statistical tools and statistical packages that are tailored to analyzing correlated binary data. The authors showcase both traditional and new methods for application to health-related research. Data and computer programs will be publicly available in order for readers to replicate model development, but learning a new statistical language is not necessary with this book. The inclusion of code for R, SAS, and SPSS allows for easy implementation by readers. For readers interested in learning more about the languages, though, there are short tutorials in the appendix. Accompanying data sets are available for download through the book s website. Data analysis presented in each chapter will provide step-by-step instructions so these new methods can be readily applied to projects. Researchers and graduate students in Statistics, Epidemiology, and Public Health will find this book particularly useful.
