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Reliability of Statistical Software

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  • Oluwarotimi O. Odeh
  • Allen M. Featherstone
  • Jason S. Bergtold

Abstract

The reliability of several statisitcal software packages was examined using the National Institute of Standards and Technology linear and nonlinear least squares datasets and models. Software tested include Excel 2007, GAMS 23.4, GAUSS 9.0, LIMDEP 8.0, Mathematica 7.0, MATLAB 7.5, R 2.10, SAS 9.1, SHAZAM 10, and Stata 10. While some of these packages have been previously examined, others, including GAMS and MATLAB, have not been extensively examined. Reliability tests indicate improvements in some of the software packages that were previously tested, but some of these packages failed reliability tests under certain conditions. The findings underscore the need to benchmark software packages to ascertain reliability before use and the importance of solving econometric problems using more than one package. Copyright 2010, Oxford University Press.

Suggested Citation

  • Oluwarotimi O. Odeh & Allen M. Featherstone & Jason S. Bergtold, 2010. "Reliability of Statistical Software," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 92(5), pages 1472-1489.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:ajagec:v:92:y:2010:i:5:p:1472-1489
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jason S. Bergtold & Krishna P. Pokharel & Allen M. Featherstone & Lijia Mo, 2018. "On the examination of the reliability of statistical software for estimating regression models with discrete dependent variables," Computational Statistics, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 757-786, June.
    2. Bergtold, Jason S. & Pokharel, Krishna & Featherstone, Allen, 2015. "On the Examination of the Reliability of Statistical Software for Estimating Logistic Regression Models," 2015 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 26-28, San Francisco, California 205643, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    3. D. Betsy McCoach & Graham G. Rifenbark & Sarah D. Newton & Xiaoran Li & Janice Kooken & Dani Yomtov & Anthony J. Gambino & Aarti Bellara, 2018. "Does the Package Matter? A Comparison of Five Common Multilevel Modeling Software Packages," Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, , vol. 43(5), pages 594-627, October.

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