3,661 research outputs found
cutpointr: Improved Estimation and Validation of Optimal Cutpoints in R
'Optimal cutpoints' for binary classification tasks are often established by
testing which cutpoint yields the best discrimination, for example the Youden
index, in a specific sample. This results in 'optimal' cutpoints that are
highly variable and systematically overestimate the out-of-sample performance.
To address these concerns, the cutpointr package offers robust methods for
estimating optimal cutpoints and the out-of-sample performance. The robust
methods include bootstrapping and smoothing based on kernel estimation,
generalized additive models, smoothing splines, and local regression. These
methods can be applied to a wide range of binary-classification and cost-based
metrics. cutpointr also provides mechanisms to utilize user-defined metrics and
estimation methods. The package has capabilities for parallelization of the
bootstrapping, including reproducible random number generation. Furthermore, it
is pipe-friendly, for example for compatibility with functions from tidyverse.
Various functions for plotting receiver operating characteristic curves,
precision recall graphs, bootstrap results and other representations of the
data are included. The package contains example data from a study on
psychological characteristics and suicide attempts suitable for applying binary
classification algorithms.Comment: 27 pages, 2 tables, 6 figures. To be published in the Journal of
Statistical Softwar
Developing a combined quantitative benchmarking system for the performance of local health authorities: The case of the Tuscany Region in Italy
This paper proposes an integrated quantitative benchmarking approach for the measurement of the performance of Local Health Authorities (LHAs). It is based on a sound balanced scorecard approach developed and implemented in the Tuscany Region by the Management and Health Laboratory of Sant’Anna School combined with a bias corrected measure of technical efficiency, estimated using a bootstrap based Data Envelopment Analysis. The empirical results show that the typical LHA in Tuscany experienced 14% bias-corrected inefficiency in 2007. Using correlation analysis and mapping quadrants, the paper shows the relationships among technical efficiency and quality and appropriateness as well as analyses the impact of organizational factors on the performance of LHAs. Finally, this combined benchmarking approach is illustrated as a useful and important managerial tool both for regional and local authorities.appropriateness, bias correction, data envelopment analysis, local health authorities, performance evaluation system
Bayesian astrostatistics: a backward look to the future
This perspective chapter briefly surveys: (1) past growth in the use of
Bayesian methods in astrophysics; (2) current misconceptions about both
frequentist and Bayesian statistical inference that hinder wider adoption of
Bayesian methods by astronomers; and (3) multilevel (hierarchical) Bayesian
modeling as a major future direction for research in Bayesian astrostatistics,
exemplified in part by presentations at the first ISI invited session on
astrostatistics, commemorated in this volume. It closes with an intentionally
provocative recommendation for astronomical survey data reporting, motivated by
the multilevel Bayesian perspective on modeling cosmic populations: that
astronomers cease producing catalogs of estimated fluxes and other source
properties from surveys. Instead, summaries of likelihood functions (or
marginal likelihood functions) for source properties should be reported (not
posterior probability density functions), including nontrivial summaries (not
simply upper limits) for candidate objects that do not pass traditional
detection thresholds.Comment: 27 pp, 4 figures. A lightly revised version of a chapter in
"Astrostatistical Challenges for the New Astronomy" (Joseph M. Hilbe, ed.,
Springer, New York, forthcoming in 2012), the inaugural volume for the
Springer Series in Astrostatistics. Version 2 has minor clarifications and an
additional referenc
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