This paper proposes a hierarchical method for estimating the location parameters of a multivariate vector in the presence of missing data. At i th step of this procedure an estimate of the location parameters for non-missing components of the vector is based on combining the information in the subset of observations with the non-missing components with updated estimates of the location parameters from all subsets with even more missing components in an iterative fashion. If the variance-covariance matrix is known, then the resulting estimator is unbiased with the smallest variance provided missing data are ignorable. It is also shown that the resulting estimator based on consistent estimators of variance-covariance matrices obtains unbiasedness and the smallest variance asymptotically. This approach can also be extended to some cases of non-ignorable missing data. Applying the methodology to a data with random dropouts yields the well known Kaplan-Meier estimator.
We consider an empirical likelihood inference for parameters defined by general estimating equations when some components of the random observations are subject to missingness. As the nature of the estimating equations is wide-ranging, we propose a nonparametric imputation of the missing values from a kernel estimator of the conditional distribution of the missing variable given the always observable variable. The empirical likelihood is used to construct a profile likelihood for the parameter of interest. We demonstrate that the proposed nonparametric imputation can remove the selection bias …
This paper proposes a general family of estimators for estimating the population mean in systematic sampling in the presence of non-response adapting the family of estimators proposed by Khoshnevisan et al. (2007). In this paper we have discussed the general properties of the proposed family including optimum property. The results have been illustrated numerically by taking an empirical population considered in the literature.
Although the interest in the the use of social and information networks has grown, most inferences on networks assume the data collected represents the complete. However, when ignoring missing data, even when missing completely at random, this results in bias for estimators regarding inference network related parameters. In this paper, we focus on constructing estimators for the probability that a randomly selected node has node has at least one edge under the assumption that nodes are missing completely at random along with their corresponding edges. In addition, issues also arise in obtainin…
We consider regression models with parametric (linear or nonlinear) regression function and allow responses to be ``missing at random.'' We assume that the errors have mean zero and are independent of the covariates. In order to estimate expectations of functions of covariate and response we use a fully imputed estimator, namely an empirical estimator based on estimators of conditional expectations given the covariate. We exploit the independence of covariates and errors by writing the conditional expectations as unconditional expectations, which can now be estimated by empirical plug-in estim…
Complete randomization allows for consistent estimation of the average treatment effect based on the difference in means of the outcomes without strong modeling assumptions on the outcome-generating process. Appropriate use of the pretreatment covariates can further improve the estimation efficiency. However, missingness in covariates is common in experiments and raises an important question: should we adjust for covariates subject to missingness, and if so, how? The unadjusted difference in means is always unbiased. The complete-covariate analysis adjusts for all completely observed covariate…
A sample covariance matrix $\boldsymbol{S}$ of completely observed data is the key statistic in a large variety of multivariate statistical procedures, such as structured covariance/precision matrix estimation, principal component analysis, and testing of equality of mean vectors. However, when the data are partially observed, the sample covariance matrix from the available data is biased and does not provide valid multivariate procedures. To correct the bias, a simple adjustment method called inverse probability weighting (IPW) has been used in previous research, yielding the IPW estimator. T…
Estimation and Inference of the Win Ratio for Two Hierarchical Endpoints Subject to Censoring and Missing Data
Duke Clinical Research Institute（杜克临床研究所）；Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Duke University（杜克大学生物统计与生物信息学系）；Department of Statistics, North Carolina State University（北卡罗来纳州立大学统计学系）
The development of coherent missing data models to account for nonmonotone missing at random (MAR) data by inverse probability weighting (IPW) remains to date largely unresolved. As a consequence, IPW has essentially been restricted for use only in monotone missing data settings. We propose a class of models for nonmonotone missing data mechanisms that spans the MAR model, while allowing the underlying full data law to remain unrestricted. For parametric specifications within the proposed class, we introduce an unconstrained maximum likelihood estimator for estimating the missing data probabil…
We study the problem of estimating a functional or a parameter in the context where outcome is subject to nonignorable missingness. We completely avoid modeling the regression relation, while allowing the propensity to be modeled by a semiparametric logistic relation where the dependence on covariates is unspecified. We discover a surprising phenomenon in that the estimation of the parameter in the propensity model as well as the functional estimation can be carried out without assessing the missingness dependence on covariates. This allows us to propose a general class of estimators for both …
We consider a class of doubly weighted rank-based estimating methods for the transformation (or accelerated failure time) model with missing data as arise, for example, in case-cohort studies. The weights considered may not be predictable as required in a martingale stochastic process formulation. We treat the general problem as a semiparametric estimating equation problem and provide proofs of asymptotic properties for the weighted estimators, with either true weights or estimated weights, by using empirical process theory where martingale theory may fail. Simulations show that the outcome-de…
This paper investigates the property of the penalized estimating equations when both the mean and association structures are modelled. To select variables for the mean and association structures sequentially, we propose a hierarchical penalized generalized estimating equations (HPGEE2) approach. The first set of penalized estimating equations is solved for the selection of significant mean parameters. Conditional on the selected mean model, the second set of penalized estimating equations is solved for the selection of significant association parameters. The hierarchical approach is designed t…
We revisit the problem of \emph{missing mass concentration}, developing a new method of estimating concentration of heterogenic sums, in spirit of celebrated Rosenthal's inequality. As a result we slightly improve the state-of-art bounds due to Ben-Hamou at al., and simplify the proofs.
In a missing-data setting, we have a sample in which a vector of explanatory variables x_i is observed for every subject i, while scalar outcomes y_i are missing by happenstance on some individuals. In this work we propose robust estimates of the distribution of the responses assuming missing at random (MAR) data, under a semiparametric regression model. Our approach allows the consistent estimation of any weakly continuous functional of the response's distribution. In particular, strongly consistent estimates of any continuous location functional, such as the median or MM functionals, are pro…
Although randomized experiments are widely regarded as the gold standard for estimating causal effects, missing data of the pretreatment covariates makes it challenging to estimate the subgroup causal effects. When the missing data mechanism of the covariates is nonignorable, the parameters of interest are generally not pointly identifiable, and we can only get bounds for the parameters of interest, which may be too wide for practical use. In some real cases, we have prior knowledge that some restrictions may be plausible. We show the identifiability of the causal effects and joint distributio…
Despite the major advances taken in causal modeling, causality is still an unfamiliar topic for many statisticians. In this paper, it is demonstrated from the beginning to the end how causal effects can be estimated from observational data assuming that the causal structure is known. To make the problem more challenging, the causal effects are highly nonlinear and the data are missing at random. The tools used in the estimation include causal models with design, causal calculus, multiple imputation and generalized additive models. The main message is that a trained statistician can estimate ca…
