R loops+predict() - r

Hi I am a beginner with R (beginner programmer in general) and the help documents are absolutely killing me.
Suppose I have a matrix
[a,b,c,d]
I complete 2 regression of some kind a~b+c+d. My goal is to do a predict() for the variable "a" in test data set but c is full of NAs. How do I replace the NAs in c using the model I have created?
If it helps this is the kind of loop I would do in Octave,
for i:length(c)
if c(i)=NA
c(i)=some_function(b,d);<---- I tried to bold this but it came out wrong
end
Thanks

It's even easier than Seb suggests.
c[is.na(c)] <- mean(c, na.rm = TRUE)
Here, the mean function returns a single number (namely the mean of all the values in c that weren't NA). The assignment operator <- then assigns this number to every element in c where is.na returns TRUE.
As an alternative, try passing the argument na.action = na.omit to the predict function.
The direct translation of your Octave script is something like
for(i in seq_along(c))
{
if(is.na(c[i]))
{
c(i) <- some_function(b[i], d[i])
}
}
Note however that in R, just as in Octave, loops are usually inferior to operating directly on vectors.

do you mean something like
c <- ifelse(is.na(c), mean(c, na.rm=TRUE), c)
you may want to check the help files ?ifelse and ?is.na.

Related

post-processing in mice, replace one variable with another

I'm trying to perform multiple imputation on a dataset in R where I have two variables, one of which needs to be the same or greater than the other one. I have set up the method and the predictive matrix, but I am having trouble understanding how to configure the post-processing. The manual (or main paper - van Buuren and Groothuis-Oudshoorn, 2011) states (section 3.5): "The mice() function has an argument post that takes a vector of strings of R commands. These commands are parsed and evaluated just after the univariate imputation function returns, and thus provide a way to post-process the imputed values." There are a couple of examples, of which the second one seems most useful:
R> post["gen"] <- "imp[[j]][p$data$age[!r[,j]]<5,i] <- levels(boys$gen)[1]"
this suggests to me that I could do:
R> ini <- mice(cbind(boys), max = 0, print = FALSE)
R> post["A"] <- "imp[[j]][p$data$B[!r[,j]]>p$data$A[!r[,j]],i] <- levels(boys$A)[boys$B]"
However, this doesn't work (when I plot A v B, I get random scatter rather than the points being confined to one half of the graph where A >= B).
I have also tried using the ifdo() function, as suggested in another sx post:
post["A"] <- "ifdo(A < B), B"
However, it seems the ifdo() function is not yet implemented. I tried running the code suggested for inspiration but afraid my R programming skills are not that brilliant.
So, in summary, has anyone any advice about how to implement post-processing in mice such that value A >= value B in the final imputed datasets?
Ok, so I've found an answer to my own question - but maybe this isn't the best way to do it.
In FIMD, there is a suggestion to do this kind of thing outside the imputation process, which thus gives:
R> long <- mice::complete(imp, "long", include = TRUE)
R> long$A <- with(long, ifelse(B < A, B, A))
This seems to work, so I'm happy.

Optimizing alpha and beta in negative log likehood sum for beta binomial distribution

I'm attempting to create sigma/summation function with the variables in my dataset that looks like this:
paste0("(choose(",zipdistrib$Leads[1],",",zipdistrib$Starts[1],")*beta(a+",zipdistrib$Starts[1],",b+",zipdistrib$Leads[1],"-",zipdistrib$Starts[1],")/beta(a,b))")
When I enter that code, I get
[1] "(choose(9,6)*beta(a+6,b+9-6)/beta(a,b))"
I want to create a sigma/summation function where a and b are unknown free-floating variables and the values of Leads[i] and Starts[i] are determined by the values for Leads and Starts for observation i in my dataset. I have tried using a sum function in conjunction with mapply and sapply to no avail. Currently, I am taking the tack of creating the function as a string using a for loop in conjunction with a paste0 command so that the only things that change are the values of the variables Leads and Starts. Then, I try coercing the result into a function. To my surprise, I can actually enter this code without creating a syntax error, but when I try optimize the function for variables a and b, I'm not having success.
Here's my attempt to create the function out of a string.
betafcn <- function (a,b) {
abfcnstring <-
for (i in 1:length(zipdistrib$Zip5))
toString(
paste0(" (choose(",zipdistrib$Leads[i],",",zipdistrib$Starts[i],")*beta(a+",zipdistrib$Starts[i],",b+",zipdistrib$Leads[i],"-",zipdistrib$Starts[i],")/beta(a,b))+")
)
as.function(
as.list(
substr(abfcnstring, 1, nchar(abfcnstring)-1)
)
)
}
Then when I try to optimize the function for a and b, I get the following:
optim(c(a=.03, b=100), betafcn(a,b))
## Error in as.function.default(x, envir) :
argument must have length at least 1
Is there a better way for me to compile a sigma from i=1 to length of dataset with mapply or lapply or some other *apply function? Or am I stuck using a dreaded for loop? And then once I create the function, how do I make sure that I can optimize for a and b?
Update
This is what my dataset would look like:
leads <-c(7,4,2)
sales <-c(3,1,0)
zipcodes <-factor(c("11111", "22222", "33333"))
zipleads <-data.frame(ZipCode=zipcodes, Leads=leads, Sales=sales)
zipleads
## ZipCode Leads Sales
# 1 11111 7 3
# 2 22222 4 1
# 3 33333 2 0
My goal is to create a function that would look something like this:
betafcn <-function (a,b) {
(choose(7,3)*beta(a+3,b+7-3)/beta(a,b))+
(choose(4,1)*beta(a+4,b+4-1)/beta(a,b))+
(choose(2,0)*beta(a+0,b+2-0)/beta(a,b))
}
The difference is that I would ideally like to replace the dataset values with any other possible vectors for Leads and Sales.
Since R vectorizes most of its operations by default, you can write an expression in terms of single values of a and b (which will automatically be recycled to the length of the data) and vectors of x and y (i.e., Leads and Sales); if you compute on the log scale, then you can use sum() (rather than prod()) to combine the results. Thus I think you're looking for something like:
betafcn <- function(a,b,x,y,log=FALSE) {
r <- lchoose(x,y)+lbeta(a+x,b+x-y)-lbeta(a,b)
if (log) r else exp(r)
}
Note that (1) optim() minimizes by default (2) if you're trying to optimize a likelihood you're better off optimizing the log-likelihood instead ...
Since all of the internal functions (+, lchoose, lbeta) are vectorized, you should be able to apply this across the whole data set via:
zipleads <- data.frame(Leads=c(7,4,2),Sales=c(3,1,0))
objfun <- function(p) { ## negative log-likelihood
-sum(betafcn(p[1],p[2],zipleads$Leads,zipleads$Sales,
log=TRUE))
}
objfun(c(1,1))
optim(fn=objfun,par=c(1,1))
I got crazy answers for this example (extremely large values of both shape parameters), but I think that's because it's awfully hard to fit a two-parameter model to three data points!
Since the shape parameters of the beta-binomial (which is what this appears to be) have to be positive, you might run into trouble with unconstrained optimization. You can use method="L-BFGS-B", lower=c(0,0) or optimize the parameters on the log scale ...
I thought your example was hopelessly complex. If you are going to attemp making a function by pasting character values, you first need to understand how to make a function body with an unevaluated expression, and after that basic task is understood, then you can elaborate ... if in fact it is necessary, noting BenBolker's suggestions.
choosefcn <- function (a,b) {}
txtxpr <- paste0("choose(",9,",",6,")" )
body(choosefcn) <- parse(text= txtxpr)
#----------
> betafcn
function (a, b)
choose(9, 6)
val1 <- "a"
val2 <- "b"
txtxpr <- paste0("choose(", val1, ",", val2, ")" )
body(choosefcn) <- parse(text= txtxpr)
#
choosefcn
#function (a, b)
#choose(a, b)
It also possible to configure the formal arguments separately with the formals<- function. See each of these help pages:
?formals
?body
?'function' # needs to be quoted

Apply function to every value in an R dataframe

I have a 58 column dataframe, I need to apply the transformation $log(x_{i,j}+1)$ to all values in the first 56 columns. What method could I use to go about this most efficiently? I'm assuming there is something that would allow me to do this rather than just using some for loops to run through the entire dataframe.
alexwhan's answer is right for log (and should probably be selected as the correct answer). However, it works so cleanly because log is vectorized. I have experienced the special pain of non-vectorized functions too frequently. When I started with R, and didn't understand the apply family well, I resorted to ugly loops very often. So, for the purposes of those who might stumble onto this question who do not have vectorized functions I provide the following proof of concept.
#Creating sample data
df <- as.data.frame(matrix(runif(56 * 56), 56, 56))
#Writing an ugly non-vectorized function
logplusone <- function(x) {log(x[1] + 1)}
#example code that achieves the desired result, despite the lack of a vectorized function
df[, 1:56] <- as.data.frame(lapply(df[, 1:56], FUN = function(x) {sapply(x, FUN = logplusone)}))
#Proof that the results are the same using both methods...
#Note: I used all.equal rather than all so that the values are tested using machine tolerance for mathematical equivalence. This is probably a non-issue for the current example, but might be relevant with some other testing functions.
#should evaluate to true
all.equal(log(df[, 1:56] + 1),as.data.frame(lapply(df[, 1:56], FUN = function(x) {sapply(x, FUN = logplusone)})))
You should be able to just refer to the columns you want, and do the operation, ie:
df[,1:56] <- log(df[,1:56]+1)

evaluate one variable in an expression with two variables

I want to evaluate f with the mean=7
mean=7
f <- expression(-(x-mean)^2/2)
then get a new expression:
-(x-7)^2/2
How could I do it? Thanks.
Here is one way.
f <- as.call(f)
eval(substitute(substitute(expr, list(mean=7)), list(expr= f)))
# -(x - 7)^2/2()
If that construction feels mind-bending, you don't need to feel alone: even the guys who wrote the R manual call the problem you've posed here "a puzzle".
How about gsub?
avg <- 7
f <- expression(-(x-avg)^2/2)
f.new <- as.expression(gsub('avg',avg,f))
expression("-(x - 7)^2/2")
on a side note, you should avoid defining variables with names like mean or data since they are built in R functions.
In S-Plus, the substitute function has an extra evaluate argument, so there it is rather easy. Unfortunately, R is missing that argument...
# in S-Plus:
x <- expression(-(x-mean)^2/2)
substitute(x, list(mean=7), evaluate=TRUE)
#-(x - 7)^2/2
...so you must resort to something like what #JoshO'Brien suggests. Consider logging this as a feature request with R core ;-)

Creating formulas in R involving an arbitrary number of variables

I'm using the library poLCA. To use the main command of the library one has to create a formula as follows:
f <- cbind(V1,V2,V3)~1
After this a command is invoked:
poLCA(f,data0,...)
V1, V2, V3 are the names of variables in the dataset data0. I'm running a simulation and I need to change the formula several times. Sometimes it has 3 variables, sometimes 4, sometimes more.
If I try something like:
f <- cbind(get(names(data0)[1]),get(names(data0)[2]),get(names(data0)[3]))~1
it works fine. But then I have to know in advance how many variables I will use. I would like to define an arbitrary vector
vars0 <- c(1,5,17,21)
and then create the formula as follows
f<- cbind(get(names(data0)[var0]))
Unfortunaly I get an error. I suspect the answer may involve some form of apply but I still don't understand very well how this functions work. Thanks in advance for any help.
Using data from the examples in ?poLCA this (possibly hackish) idiom seems to work:
library(poLCA)
vec <- c(1,3,4)
M4 <- poLCA(do.call(cbind,values[,vec])~1,values,nclass = 1)
Edit
As Hadley points out in the comments, we're making this a bit more complicated than we need. In this case values is a data frame, not a matrix, so this:
M1 <- poLCA(values[,c(1,2,4)]~1,values,nclass = 1)
generates an error, but this:
M1 <- poLCA(as.matrix(values[,c(1,2,4)])~1,values,nclass = 1)
works fine. So you can just subset the columns as long as you wrap it in as.matrix.
#DWin mentioned building the formula with paste and as.formula. I thought I'd show you what that would look like using the election dataset.
library("poLCA")
data(election)
vec <- c(1,3,4)
f <- as.formula(paste("cbind(",paste(names(election)[vec],collapse=","),")~1",sep=""))

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