Robustness Tests For Quantitative Research

This highly accessible book presents robustness testing as the methodology for conducting quantitative analyses in the presence of model uncertainty.

The uncertainty that researchers face in specifying their estimation model threatens the validity of their inferences. In regression analyses of observational data, the 'true model' remains unknown, and researchers face a choice between plausible alternative specifications. Robustness testing allows researchers to explore the stability of their main estimates to plausible variations in model specifications. This highly accessible book presents the logic of robustness testing, provides an operational definition of robustness that can be applied in all quantitative research, and introduces readers to diverse types of robustness tests. Focusing on each dimension of model uncertainty in separate chapters, the authors provide a systematic overview of existing tests and develop many new ones. Whether it be uncertainty about the population or sample, measurement, the set of explanatory variables and their functional form, causal or temporal heterogeneity, or effect dynamics or spatial dependence, this book provides guidance and offers tests that researchers from across the social sciences can employ in their own research.

The uncertainty that researchers face in specifying their estimation model threatens the validity of their inferences. In regression analyses of observational data, the 'true model' remains unknown, and researchers face a choice between plausible alternative specifications. Robustness testing allows researchers to explore the stability of their main estimates to plausible variations in model specifications. This highly accessible book presents the logic of robustness testing, provides an operational definition of robustness that can be applied in all quantitative research, and introduces readers to diverse types of robustness tests. Focusing on each dimension of model uncertainty in separate chapters, the authors provide a systematic overview of existing tests and develop many new ones. Whether it be uncertainty about the population or sample, measurement, the set of explanatory variables and their functional form, causal or temporal heterogeneity, or effect dynamics or spatial dependence, this book provides guidance and offers tests that researchers from across the social sciences can employ in their own research.

The uncertainty that researchers face in specifying their estimation model threatens the validity of their inferences. In regression analyses of observational data, the 'true model' remains unknown, and researchers face a choice between plausible alternative specifications. Robustness testing allows researchers to explore the stability of their main estimates to plausible variations in model specifications. This highly accessible book presents the logic of robustness testing, provides an operational definition of robustness that can be applied in all quantitative research, and introduces readers to diverse types of robustness tests. Focusing on each dimension of model uncertainty in separate chapters, the authors provide a systematic overview of existing tests and develop many new ones. Whether it be uncertainty about the population or sample, measurement, the set of explanatory variables and their functional form, causal or temporal heterogeneity, or effect dynamics or spatial dependence, this book provides guidance and offers tests that researchers from across the social sciences can employ in their own research.

"This book focuses on the practical aspects of modern and robust statistical methods. The increased accuracy and power of modern methods, versus conventional approaches to the analysis of variance (ANOVA) and regression, is remarkable. Through a combination of theoretical developments, improved and more flexible statistical methods, and the power of the computer, it is now possible to address problems with standard methods that seemed insurmountable only a few years ago"--

The Wiley-Interscience Paperback Series consists of selectedbooks that have been made more accessible to consumers in an effortto increase global appeal and general circulation. With these newunabridged softcover volumes, Wiley hopes to extend the lives ofthese works by making them available to future generations ofstatisticians, mathematicians, and scientists. "This is a nice book containing a wealth of information, much ofit due to the authors. . . . If an instructor designing such acourse wanted a textbook, this book would be the best choiceavailable. . . . There are many stimulating exercises, and the bookalso contains an excellent index and an extensive list ofreferences." —Technometrics "[This] book should be read carefully by anyone who isinterested in dealing with statistical models in a realisticfashion." —American Scientist Introducing concepts, theory, and applications, RobustStatistics is accessible to a broad audience, avoidingallusions to high-powered mathematics while emphasizing ideas,heuristics, and background. The text covers the approach based onthe influence function (the effect of an outlier on an estimater,for example) and related notions such as the breakdown point. Italso treats the change-of-variance function, fundamental conceptsand results in the framework of estimation of a single parameter,and applications to estimation of covariance matrices andregression parameters.

The contributors to Best Practices in Quantitative Methods envision quantitative methods in the 21st century, identify the best practices, and, where possible, demonstrate the superiority of their recommendations empirically. Editor Jason W. Osborne designed this book with the goal of providing readers with the most effective, evidence-based, modern quantitative methods and quantitative data analysis across the social and behavioral sciences. The text is divided into five main sections covering select best practices in Measurement, Research Design, Basics of Data Analysis, Quantitative Methods, and Advanced Quantitative Methods. Each chapter contains a current and expansive review of the literature, a case for best practices in terms of method, outcomes, inferences, etc., and broad-ranging examples along with any empirical evidence to show why certain techniques are better. Key Features: Describes important implicit knowledge to readers: The chapters in this volume explain the important details of seemingly mundane aspects of quantitative research, making them accessible to readers and demonstrating why it is important to pay attention to these details. Compares and contrasts analytic techniques: The book examines instances where there are multiple options for doing things, and make recommendations as to what is the "best" choice—or choices, as what is best often depends on the circumstances. Offers new procedures to update and explicate traditional techniques: The featured scholars present and explain new options for data analysis, discussing the advantages and disadvantages of the new procedures in depth, describing how to perform them, and demonstrating their use. Intended Audience: Representing the vanguard of research methods for the 21st century, this book is an invaluable resource for graduate students and researchers who want a comprehensive, authoritative resource for practical and sound advice from leading experts in quantitative methods.

Offering an in-depth treatment of robust and resistant regression, this volume takes an applied approach and offers readers empirical examples to illustrate key concepts.

An introduction to robust estimation; The robustness of residual displays; Robust smoothing; Robust pitman-like estimators; Robust estimation in the presence of outliers; Study of robustness by simulation: particularly improvement by adjustment and combination; Robust techniques for the user; Application of robust regression to trajectory data reduction; Tests for censoring of extreme values (especially) when population distributions are incompletely defined; Robust estimation for time series autoregressions; Robust techniques in communication; Robustness in the strategy of scientific model building; A density-quantile function perspective on robust.

The resilience of computing systems includes their dependability as well as their fault tolerance and security. It defines the ability of a computing system to perform properly in the presence of various kinds of disturbances and to recover from any service degradation. These properties are immensely important in a world where many aspects of our daily life depend on the correct, reliable and secure operation of often large-scale distributed computing systems. Wolter and her co-editors grouped the 20 chapters from leading researchers into seven parts: an introduction and motivating examples, modeling techniques, model-driven prediction, measurement and metrics, testing techniques, case studies, and conclusions. The core is formed by 12 technical papers, which are framed by motivating real-world examples and case studies, thus illustrating the necessity and the application of the presented methods. While the technical chapters are independent of each other and can be read in any order, the reader will benefit more from the case studies if he or she reads them together with the related techniques. The papers combine topics like modeling, benchmarking, testing, performance evaluation, and dependability, and aim at academic and industrial researchers in these areas as well as graduate students and lecturers in related fields. In this volume, they will find a comprehensive overview of the state of the art in a field of continuously growing practical importance.