OBSOFINT: Stata module to display observations of interest

Abstract

obsofint is intended to help scan a large number of variables for unusual observations. These unusual observations are unusual in the sense that they either have a much smaller or a much larger value on a given variable than the bulk of the data. These observations of interest are identified using a criterium that is an adaptation of the commonly used Tukey bounds used in for example boxplots. In our experience these Tukey bounds flag too many values as extreme values if a variable is either skewed or has a spike (a value that is very common). The rule used in obsofint is meant to result in less false positives in case skewed or spiked variables.outlier detection, data preparation, Tukey bounds, boxplot