IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/psycho/v87y2022i3d10.1007_s11336-022-09840-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Computation and application of generalized linear mixed model derivatives using lme4

Author

Listed:
  • Ting Wang

    (American Board of Family Medicine)

  • Benjamin Graves

    (University of Missouri)

  • Yves Rosseel

    (Ghent University)

  • Edgar C. Merkle

    (University of Missouri)

Abstract

Maximum likelihood estimation of generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) is difficult due to marginalization of the random effects. Derivative computations of a fitted GLMM’s likelihood are also difficult, especially because the derivatives are not by-products of popular estimation algorithms. In this paper, we first describe theoretical results related to GLMM derivatives along with a quadrature method to efficiently compute the derivatives, focusing on fitted lme4 models with a single clustering variable. We describe how psychometric results related to item response models are helpful for obtaining the derivatives, as well as for verifying the derivatives’ accuracies. We then provide a tutorial on the many possible uses of these derivatives, including robust standard errors, score tests of fixed effect parameters, and likelihood ratio tests of non-nested models. The derivative computation methods and applications described in the paper are all available in easily obtained R packages.

Suggested Citation

  • Ting Wang & Benjamin Graves & Yves Rosseel & Edgar C. Merkle, 2022. "Computation and application of generalized linear mixed model derivatives using lme4," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 87(3), pages 1173-1193, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:psycho:v:87:y:2022:i:3:d:10.1007_s11336-022-09840-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s11336-022-09840-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11336-022-09840-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11336-022-09840-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Li Cai, 2010. "High-dimensional Exploratory Item Factor Analysis by A Metropolis–Hastings Robbins–Monro Algorithm," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 75(1), pages 33-57, March.
    2. Li Cai, 2010. "A Two-Tier Full-Information Item Factor Analysis Model with Applications," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 75(4), pages 581-612, December.
    3. Edgar Merkle & Jinyan Fan & Achim Zeileis, 2014. "Testing for Measurement Invariance with Respect to an Ordinal Variable," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 79(4), pages 569-584, October.
    4. Zeileis, Achim & Leisch, Friedrich & Hornik, Kurt & Kleiber, Christian, 2002. "strucchange: An R Package for Testing for Structural Change in Linear Regression Models," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 7(i02).
    5. Achim Zeileis & Kurt Hornik, 2007. "Generalized M‐fluctuation tests for parameter instability," Statistica Neerlandica, Netherlands Society for Statistics and Operations Research, vol. 61(4), pages 488-508, November.
    6. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-838, May.
    7. Zeileis, Achim, 2004. "Econometric Computing with HC and HAC Covariance Matrix Estimators," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 11(i10).
    8. Bates, Douglas & Mächler, Martin & Bolker, Ben & Walker, Steve, 2015. "Fitting Linear Mixed-Effects Models Using lme4," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 67(i01).
    9. Cees Glas, 1999. "Modification indices for the 2-PL and the nominal response model," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 64(3), pages 273-294, September.
    10. Doran, Harold & Bates, Douglas & Bliese, Paul & Dowling, Maritza, 2007. "Estimating the Multilevel Rasch Model: With the lme4 Package," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 20(i02).
    11. Walt Stroup & Elizabeth Claassen, 2020. "Pseudo-Likelihood or Quadrature? What We Thought We Knew, What We Think We Know, and What We Are Still Trying to Figure Out," Journal of Agricultural, Biological and Environmental Statistics, Springer;The International Biometric Society;American Statistical Association, vol. 25(4), pages 639-656, December.
    12. Ting Wang & Carolin Strobl & Achim Zeileis & Edgar C. Merkle, 2018. "Score-Based Tests of Differential Item Functioning via Pairwise Maximum Likelihood Estimation," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 83(1), pages 132-155, March.
    13. Vuong, Quang H, 1989. "Likelihood Ratio Tests for Model Selection and Non-nested Hypotheses," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 57(2), pages 307-333, March.
    14. Zeileis, Achim, 2006. "Object-oriented Computation of Sandwich Estimators," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 16(i09).
    15. Chalmers, R. Philip, 2012. "mirt: A Multidimensional Item Response Theory Package for the R Environment," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 48(i06).
    16. Carolin Strobl & Julia Kopf & Achim Zeileis, 2015. "Rasch Trees: A New Method for Detecting Differential Item Functioning in the Rasch Model," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 80(2), pages 289-316, June.
    17. De Boeck, Paul & Bakker, Marjan & Zwitser, Robert & Nivard, Michel & Hofman, Abe & Tuerlinckx, Francis & Partchev, Ivailo, 2011. "The Estimation of Item Response Models with the lmer Function from the lme4 Package in R," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 39(i12).
    18. Rabe-Hesketh, Sophia & Skrondal, Anders & Pickles, Andrew, 2005. "Maximum likelihood estimation of limited and discrete dependent variable models with nested random effects," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 128(2), pages 301-323, October.
    19. Edgar C. Merkle & Daniel Furr & Sophia Rabe-Hesketh, 2019. "Bayesian Comparison of Latent Variable Models: Conditional Versus Marginal Likelihoods," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 84(3), pages 802-829, September.
    20. J. C. Naylor & A. F. M. Smith, 1982. "Applications of a Method for the Efficient Computation of Posterior Distributions," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series C, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 31(3), pages 214-225, November.
    21. Edgar Merkle & Achim Zeileis, 2013. "Tests of Measurement Invariance Without Subgroups: A Generalization of Classical Methods," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 78(1), pages 59-82, January.
    22. Shao, Xiaofeng & Zhang, Xianyang, 2010. "Testing for Change Points in Time Series," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 105(491), pages 1228-1240.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Luo, Nanyu & Ji, Feng & Han, Yuting & He, Jinbo & Zhang, Xiaoya, 2024. "Fitting item response theory models using deep learning computational frameworks," OSF Preprints tjxab, Center for Open Science.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ting Wang & Carolin Strobl & Achim Zeileis & Edgar C. Merkle, 2018. "Score-Based Tests of Differential Item Functioning via Pairwise Maximum Likelihood Estimation," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 83(1), pages 132-155, March.
    2. K. B. S. Huth & L. J. Waldorp & J. Luigjes & A. E. Goudriaan & R. J. Holst & M. Marsman, 2022. "A Note on the Structural Change Test in Highly Parameterized Psychometric Models," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 87(3), pages 1064-1080, September.
    3. Ting Wang & Carolin Strobl & Achim Zeileis & Edgar C. Merkle, 2016. "Score-Based Tests of Differential Item Functioning in the Two-Parameter Model," Working Papers 2016-05, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, Universität Innsbruck.
    4. Payton J. Jones & Patrick Mair & Thorsten Simon & Achim Zeileis, 2020. "Network Trees: A Method for Recursively Partitioning Covariance Structures," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 85(4), pages 926-945, December.
    5. Edgar Merkle & Jinyan Fan & Achim Zeileis, 2014. "Testing for Measurement Invariance with Respect to an Ordinal Variable," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 79(4), pages 569-584, October.
    6. Felix Zimmer & Clemens Draxler & Rudolf Debelak, 2023. "Power Analysis for the Wald, LR, Score, and Gradient Tests in a Marginal Maximum Likelihood Framework: Applications in IRT," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 88(4), pages 1249-1298, December.
    7. Jones, Payton J. & Mair, Patrick & Simon, Thorsten & Zeileis, Achim, 2019. "Network Model Trees," OSF Preprints ha4cw, Center for Open Science.
    8. Zeileis, Achim, 2006. "Implementing a class of structural change tests: An econometric computing approach," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 50(11), pages 2987-3008, July.
    9. Cervantes, Víctor H., 2017. "DFIT: An R Package for Raju's Differential Functioning of Items and Tests Framework," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 76(i05).
    10. Li, Kai & Chen, Pei-Ying & Yan, Erjia, 2019. "Challenges of measuring software impact through citations: An examination of the lme4 R package," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 449-461.
    11. Joshua B. Gilbert & James S. Kim & Luke W. Miratrix, 2023. "Modeling Item-Level Heterogeneous Treatment Effects With the Explanatory Item Response Model: Leveraging Large-Scale Online Assessments to Pinpoint the Impact of Educational Interventions," Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, , vol. 48(6), pages 889-913, December.
    12. Zeileis, Achim & Koenker, Roger, 2008. "Econometrics in R: Past, Present, and Future," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 27(i01).
    13. Minjeong Jeon & Sophia Rabe-Hesketh, 2012. "Profile-Likelihood Approach for Estimating Generalized Linear Mixed Models With Factor Structures," Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, , vol. 37(4), pages 518-542, August.
    14. Alexander Robitzsch, 2021. "A Comprehensive Simulation Study of Estimation Methods for the Rasch Model," Stats, MDPI, vol. 4(4), pages 1-23, October.
    15. Beth Ann Griffin & Megan S. Schuler & Elizabeth A. Stuart & Stephen Patrick & Elizabeth McNeer & Rosanna Smart & David Powell & Bradley Stein & Terry Schell & Rosalie Liccardo Pacula, 2020. "Variation in Performance of Commonly Used Statistical Methods for Estimating Effectiveness of State-Level Opioid Policies on Opioid-Related Mortality," NBER Working Papers 27029, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Sakari Lähdemäki, 2017. "Traditional convergence tests with Penn World Table 9.0," Working Papers 309, Työn ja talouden tutkimus LABORE, The Labour Institute for Economic Research LABORE.
    17. Harold Doran, 2023. "A Collection of Numerical Recipes Useful for Building Scalable Psychometric Applications," Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, , vol. 48(1), pages 37-69, February.
    18. Yang Liu & Jan Hannig, 2017. "Generalized Fiducial Inference for Logistic Graded Response Models," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 82(4), pages 1097-1125, December.
    19. Christopher J. Urban & Daniel J. Bauer, 2021. "A Deep Learning Algorithm for High-Dimensional Exploratory Item Factor Analysis," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 86(1), pages 1-29, March.
    20. repec:jss:jstsof:27:i01 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Paul A. Jewsbury & Peter W. van Rijn, 2020. "IRT and MIRT Models for Item Parameter Estimation With Multidimensional Multistage Tests," Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, , vol. 45(4), pages 383-402, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:psycho:v:87:y:2022:i:3:d:10.1007_s11336-022-09840-2. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.