InĬontrast, analyzing only complete cases for data that are either missing at However, the sample size for anĪnalysis can be substantially reduced, leading to larger standard errors. Random, analyzing only the complete cases will not result in biased parameterĮstimates (e.g., regression coefficients). Missing data require different treatments. Individuals with very high incomes are more likely to decline toĪnswer questions about their income than individuals with more moderate incomes.Īn understanding of the missing data mechanism(s) present in your data is Unobserved variable itself predicts missingness. Information and is a required assumption for both of the missing data techniquesįinally, data are said to be missing not at random if the value of the The assumption of ignorability is needed for optimal estimation of missing Probability of a missingness does not depend on the missing information itself. The missingĭata mechanism is said be ignorable if it is missing at random Under this assumption the probability of missingness does notĭepend on the true values after controlling for the observed variables. MAR is a less restrictive assumption than MCAR. Some questions than women (i.e., gender predicts missingness on another variable). For example, in surveys, men may be more likely to decline to answer Used to predict missingness on a given variable. For example, a husband and wife are both missing information onĪ variable is said to be missing at random if other variables (but not the Variable to be related to missing on another, e.g. Missing completely at random also allow for missing on one Physical examination therefore only a subset of participants will have complete Surveys, some subjects are randomly selected to undergo more extensive Sometimes referred to as “planned missing.” For example, in some health Is randomly selected to undergo additional measurement, this is One relatively common situation in whichĭata are missing completely at random occurs when a subset of cases Missing completely at random is a fairly strongĪssumption and may be relatively rare. Technical definitions for these terms in the literature the followingĮxplanation necessarily contains simplifications.Ī variable is missing completely at random, if neither the variables in theĭataset nor the unobserved value of the variable itself predict whether a The missing data mechanism describes the process that is believed to have generated the missingĭata mechanisms generally fall into one of three main categories.

Obtain appropriate estimates of uncertainty.

Goals of statistical analysis with missing data:

Some of the variables have value labels associated with Understand the scope of the issues you might face when dealing with missing data We hope this seminar will help you to better

We haveĬhosen to explore multiple imputation through an examination of the data, a careful consideration of theĪssumptions needed to implement this method and a clear understanding of theĪnalytic model to be estimated. Maximum likelihood may better serve your needs. The type of data and model you will be using, other techniques such as direct Particular, we will focus on the one of the most popular methods, multiple imputation. We are not advocating in favor of any one technique to handle missing data The purpose of this seminar is to discuss commonly used techniques for handling missing dataĪnd common issues that could arise when these techniques are used. Not, we deal with the matter of missing data in an ad hoc fashion. Missing data is a common issue, and more often than

Boxplot stata