A Joint Score Test for Heteroscedasticity in the Two Way Error Components Model

This article extends the work by Holly and Gardiol (2000) (A score test for individual heteroscedasticity in a one-way error component model. In: Krishnakumar, J., Ronchetti, E., Eds. Panel Data Econometrics: Future Directions. Elsevier, North-Holland, Amsterdam, pp. 199–211, Ch. 10) to the two-way error components model. It deals exclusively with a joint heteroscedasticity test by first deriving Rao's efficient score statistics. Then, based on appropriate set of assumptions, we deduce the asymptotic distribution of the score under contiguous alternatives. Finally, we provide the expression for the score test statistic in the presence of heteroscedasticity and discuss its asymptotic local power.     

Score test of homogeneity for survival data

If follow-up is made for subjects which are grouped into units, such as familial or spatial units then it may be interesting to test whether the groups are homogeneous (or independent for given explanatory variables). The effect of the groups is modelled as random and we consider a frailty proportional hazards model which allows to adjust for explanatory variables. We derive the score test of homogeneity from the marginal partial likelihood and it turns out to be the sum of a pairwise correlation term of martingale residuals and an overdispersion term. In the particular case where the sizes of the groups are equal to one, this statistic can be used for testing overdispersion. The asymptotic variance of this statistic is derived using counting process arguments. An extension to the case of several strata is given. The resulting test is computationally simple; its use is illustrated using both simulated and real data. In addition a decomposition of the score statistic is proposed as a sum of a pairwise correlation term and an overdispersion term. The pairwise correlation term can be used for constructing a statistic more robust to departure from the proportional hazard model, and the overdispesion term for constructing a test of fit of the proportional hazard model.     

Testing for Homogeneity in an Exponential Mixture Model

This paper studies diagnostic procedures to test for homogeneity against unobserved heterogeneity in an exponential mixture model. The procedures include a dispersion score test, a likelihood ratio test, a moment likelihood approach and several goodness-of-fit tests. The paper compares the empirical power of these tests on a broad range of alternatives and proposes a new test that combines the dispersion score test with a properly chosen goodness-of-fit procedure; its empirical power comes close to the power of the best of the other tests.     

Some Properties of the Exact and Score Methods for Binomial Proportion and Sample Size Calculation

In this article, we point out some interesting relations between the exact test and the score test for a binomial proportion p. Based on the properties of the tests, we propose some approximate as well as exact methods of computing sample sizes required for the tests to attain a specified power. Sample sizes required for the tests are tabulated for various values of p to attain a power of 0.80 at level 0.05. We also propose approximate and exact methods of computing sample sizes needed to construct confidence intervals with a given precision. Using the proposed exact methods, sample sizes required to construct 95% confidence intervals with various precisions are tabulated for p = .05(.05).5. The approximate methods for computing sample sizes for score confidence intervals are very satisfactory and the results coincide with those of the exact methods for many cases.     

Testing overdispersion in the zero-inflated Poisson model

The zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB) model is used to account for commonly occurring overdispersion detected in data that are initially analyzed under the zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP) model. Tests for overdispersion (Wald test, likelihood ratio test [LRT], and score test) based on ZINB model for use in ZIP regression models have been developed. Due to similarity to the ZINB model, we consider the zero-inflated generalized Poisson (ZIGP) model as an alternate model for overdispersed zero-inflated count data. The score test has an advantage over the LRT and the Wald test in that the score test only requires that the parameter of interest be estimated under the null hypothesis. This paper proposes score tests for overdispersion based on the ZIGP model and illustrates that the derived score statistics are exactly the same as the score statistics under the ZINB model. A simulation study indicates the proposed score statistics are preferred to other tests for higher empirical power. In practice, based on the approximate mean–variance relationship in the data, the ZINB or ZIGP model can be considered, and a formal score test based on asymptotic standard normal distribution can be employed for assessing overdispersion in the ZIP model. We provide an example to illustrate the procedures for data analysis.     

Testing for Threshold Diffusion

The threshold diffusion model assumes a piecewise linear drift term and a piecewise smooth diffusion term, which constitutes a rich model for analyzing nonlinear continuous-time processes. We consider the problem of testing for threshold nonlinearity in the drift term. We do this by developing a quasi-likelihood test derived under the working assumption of a constant diffusion term, which circumvents the problem of generally unknown functional form for the diffusion term. The test is first developed for testing for one threshold at which the drift term breaks into two linear functions. We show that under some mild regularity conditions, the asymptotic null distribution of the proposed test statistic is given by the distribution of certain functional of some centered Gaussian process. We develop a computationally efficient method for calibrating the p-value of the test statistic by bootstrapping its asymptotic null distribution. The local power function is also derived, which establishes the consistency of the proposed test. The test is then extended to testing for multiple thresholds. We demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed test by simulations. Using the proposed test, we examine the evidence of nonlinearity in the term structure of a long time series of U.S. interest rates.     

Rao's score test with nonparametric density estimators

Traditionally, Rao's score (RS) tests are constructed under a parametric specification of the probability density function. We estimate the density function by a non-parametric estimator and consider a semi-parametric Rao's score (SPRS) test for a set of hypotheses concerning the parametric model. The asymptotic distribution of the SPRS test is analyzed. Further, for the regression model, we carry out a set of Monte Carlo experiments to analyze the size and power of the SPRS test in small samples. The robustness of SPRS test to the choice of the density estimator is also analyzed.     

The score test for the two‐sample occupancy model

The score test statistic from the observed information is easy to compute numerically. Its large sample distribution under the null hypothesis is well known and is equivalent to that of the score test based on the expected information, the likelihood‐ratio test and the Wald test. However, several authors have noted that under the alternative hypothesis this no longer holds and in particular the score statistic from the observed information can take negative values. We extend the anthology on the score test to a problem of interest in ecology when studying species occurrence. This is the comparison of two zero‐inflated binomial random variables from two independent samples under imperfect detection. An analysis of eigenvalues associated with the score test in this setting assists in understanding why using the observed information matrix in the score test can be problematic. We demonstrate through a combination of simulations and theoretical analysis that the power of the score test calculated under the observed information decreases as the populations being compared become more dissimilar. In particular, the score test based on the observed information is inconsistent. Finally, we propose a modified rule that rejects the null hypothesis when the score statistic is computed using the observed information is negative or is larger than the usual chi‐square cut‐off. In simulations in our setting this has power that is comparable to the Wald and likelihood ratio tests and consistency is largely restored. Our new test is easy to use and inference is possible. Supplementary material for this article is available online as per journal instructions.     

A score test for overdispersion in Poisson regression based on the generalized Poisson-2 model

Overdispersion is a common phenomenon in Poisson modeling. The generalized Poisson (GP) regression model accommodates both overdispersion and underdispersion in count data modeling, and is an increasingly popular platform for modeling overdispersed count data. The Poisson model is one of the special cases in the collection of models which may be specified by GP regression. Thus, we may derive a test of overdispersion which compares the equi-dispersion Poisson model within the context of the more general GP regression model. The score test has an advantage over the likelihood ratio test (LRT) and over the Wald test in that the score test only requires that the parameter of interest be estimated under the null hypothesis (the Poisson model). Herein, we propose a score test for overdispersion based on the GP model (specifically the GP-2 model) and compare the power of the test with the LRT and Wald tests. A simulation study indicates the proposed score test based on asymptotic standard normal distribution is more appropriate in practical applications.     

Heteroscedasticity and/or autocorrelation diagnostics in nonlinear models with AR(1) and symmetrical errors

In this paper, we discuss tests of heteroscedasticity and/or autocorrelation in nonlinear models with AR(1) and symmetrical errors. The symmetrical errors distribution class includes all symmetrical continuous distributions, such as normal, Student-t, power exponential, logistic I and II, contaminated normal, so on. First, score test statistics and their adjustment forms of heteroscedasticity are derived. Then, the asymptotic properties, including asymptotic chi-square and approximate powers under local alternatives of the score tests, are studied. The properties of test statistics are investigated through Monte Carlo simulations. Finally, a real data set is used to illustrate our test methods.     

A powerful and interpretable alternative to the Jarque–Bera test of normality based on 2nd-power skewness and kurtosis,using the Rao's score test on the APD family

We introduce the 2nd-power skewness and kurtosis, which are interesting alternatives to the classical Pearson's skewness and kurtosis, called 3rd-power skewness and 4th-power kurtosis in our terminology. We use the sample 2nd-power skewness and kurtosis to build a powerful test of normality. This test can also be derived as Rao's score test on the asymmetric power distribution, which combines the large range of exponential tail behavior provided by the exponential power distribution family with various levels of asymmetry. We find that our test statistic is asymptotically chi-squared distributed. We also propose a modified test statistic, for which we show numerically that the distribution can be approximated for finite sample sizes with very high precision by a chi-square. Similarly, we propose a directional test based on sample 2nd-power kurtosis only, for the situations where the true distribution is known to be symmetric. Our tests are very similar in spirit to the famous Jarque–Bera test, and as such are also locally optimal. They offer the same nice interpretation, with in addition the gold standard power of the regression and correlation tests. An extensive empirical power analysis is performed, which shows that our tests are among the most powerful normality tests. Our test is implemented in an R package called PoweR.     

An extended cure model and model selection

We propose a novel interpretation for a recently proposed Box–Cox transformation cure model, which leads to a natural extension of the cure model. Based on the extended model, we consider an important issue of model selection between the mixture cure model and the bounded cumulative hazard cure model via the likelihood ratio test, score test and Akaike’s Information Criterion (AIC). Our empirical study shows that AIC is informative and both the score test and the likelihood ratio test have adequate power to differentiate between the mixture cure model and the bounded cumulative hazard cure model when the sample size is large. We apply the tests and AIC methods to leukemia and colon cancer data to examine the appropriateness of the cure models considered for them in the literature.     

Score tests in the two - way layout of counts

For the balanced two-way layout of a count response variable Y classified by fixed or random factors A and B, we address the problems of (i) testing for individual and interactive effects on Y of two fixed factors, and (ii) testing for the effect of a fixed factor in the presence of a random factor and conversely. In case (i), we assume independent Poisson responses with µ_ij= E(Y| A=i,B=j) = α_iβ_jγ_ij corresponding respectively to the multiplicative

interactive and non-interactive cases. For case (ii) with factor A random, we derive a multivariate gamma-Poisson model by mixing on the random variable associated with each level of A. In each case Neyman C(α) score tests are derived. We present simulation results,and apply the interaction test to a data set, to evaluate and compare the size and power of the score test for interaction between two fixed factors, the competing Poisson-based likelihood ratio test, and the F-tests based on the assumptions that √Y+1 or log(Y+1) are approximately normal. Our results provide strong evidence that the normal-theory based F-tests typically are very far from nominal size, and that the likelihood ratio test is somewhat more liberal than the score test.     

On Tests for Group Variation With a Small to Moderate Number of Groups

This paper considers a family of penalized likelihood score tests for group variation. The tests can be indexed by a measure of degrees of freedom. At one extreme, with degrees of freedom one less than the number of groups, is the usual score test for a fixed effects alternative using indicator variables for the groups, while at the other extreme, in the limit as the degrees of freedom 0, is a test closely related to a score test based on a random effects alternative. Asymptotic power comparisons are made for the tests in the family. As would be expected, different members of the family are more efficient for different alternatives. Generally the tests with smaller degrees of freedom appear to have better power than the standard test for alternatives focusing on differences among the larger groups, and lower power for alternatives focusing on differences among the smaller groups. Simulations indicate the asymptotic approximation to the distribution performs better for the tests with small degrees of freedom.     

Testing in semiparametric models with interaction, with applications to gene–environment interactions

Summary.  Motivated from the problem of testing for genetic effects on complex traits in the presence of gene–environment interaction, we develop score tests in general semiparametric regression problems that involves Tukey style 1 degree-of-freedom form of interaction between parametrically and non-parametrically modelled covariates. We find that the score test in this type of model, as recently developed by Chatterjee and co-workers in the fully parametric setting, is biased and requires undersmoothing to be valid in the presence of non-parametric components. Moreover, in the presence of repeated outcomes, the asymptotic distribution of the score test depends on the estimation of functions which are defined as solutions of integral equations, making implementation difficult and computationally taxing. We develop profiled score statistics which are unbiased and asymptotically efficient and can be performed by using standard bandwidth selection methods. In addition, to overcome the difficulty of solving functional equations, we give easy interpretations of the target functions, which in turn allow us to develop estimation procedures that can be easily implemented by using standard computational methods. We present simulation studies to evaluate type I error and power of the method proposed compared with a naive test that does not consider interaction. Finally, we illustrate our methodology by analysing data from a case–control study of colorectal adenoma that was designed to investigate the association between colorectal adenoma and the candidate gene NAT2 in relation to smoking history.     

A partial score test for difference among heterogeneous populations

In event time data analysis, comparisons between distributions are made by the logrank test. When the data appear to contain crossing hazards phenomena, nonparametric weighted logrank statistics are usually suggested to accommodate different-weighted functions to increase the power. However, the gain in power by imposing different weights has its limits since differences before and after the crossing point may balance each other out. In contrast to the weighted logrank tests, we propose a score-type statistic based on the semiparametric-, heteroscedastic-hazards regression model of Hsieh [2001. On heteroscedastic hazards regression models: theory and application. J. Roy. Statist. Soc. Ser. B 63, 63–79.], by which the nonproportionality is explicitly modeled. Our score test is based on estimating functions derived from partial likelihood under the heteroscedastic model considered herein. Simulation results show the benefit of modeling the heteroscedasticity and power of the proposed test to two classes of weighted logrank tests (including Fleming–Harrington's test and Moreau's locally most powerful test), a Renyi-type test, and the Breslow's test for acceleration. We also demonstrate the application of this test by analyzing actual data in clinical trials.     

Comparing distributions of time to onset of disease in animal tumorigenicity experiments

The cause-of-death test of Peto et al.(1980)pools information from a Hoel-Walburg test on incidental tumors with information from a logrank test on fatal tumors in order to compare the tumor rate of a group of rodents exposed to a carcinogen against the tumor rate of a group of unexposed animals. The cause-of-death test, which can arise as a partial likelihood score test from a model that assumes proportional odds for tumor prevalence and proportional hazards for tumor mortality, is not, in general, a direct test for equality of tumor onset distributions for occult tumors that are observed in both fatal and incidental contexts. This paper develops a direct cause-of-death test for comparing distributions of time to onset of occultumors. The test is derived as a partial likelihood score test under an assumed proportional hazards model for tumor onset distributions. The size and power of the proposed test are compared in a Monte Carlo simulation study to the size and power of competitive procedures, including procedures that do not require cause-of-death information.     

Hypotheses testing for generalized order statistics with simple order restrictions on model parameters under the alternative

In applications of generalized order statistics as, for instance, reliability analysis of engineering systems, prior knowledge about the order of the underlying model parameters is often available and may therefore be incorporated in inferential procedures. Taking this information into account, we establish the likelihood ratio test, Rao's score test, and Wald's test for test problems arising from the question of appropriate model selection for ordered data, where simple order restrictions are put on the parameters under the alternative hypothesis. For simple and composite null hypothesis, explicit representations of the corresponding test statistics are obtained along with some properties and their asymptotic distributions. A simulation study is carried out to compare the order restricted tests in terms of their power. In the set-up considered, the adapted tests significantly improve the power of the associated omnibus versions for small sample sizes, especially when testing a composite null hypothesis.     

Homogeneity testing in a Weibull mixture model

The mixed Weibull distribution provides a flexible model to analyze random durations in a possibly heterogeneous population. To test for homogeneity against unobserved heterogeneity in a Weibull mixture model, a dispersion score test and a goodness-of-fit test are investigated. The empirical power of these tests is assessed and compared on a broad range of alternatives. It comes out that the dispersion score test, as it is based on a Weibull-to-exponential transformation, often breaks down. A simple new procedure is introduced for Weibull mixtures in scale, which combines the dispersion score test and the goodness-of-fit test. The new test is compared with several known procedures and shown to have a good overall power. To detect mixtures in shape and scale, a goodness-of-fit test is recommended. This research has been partially sponsored by a grant of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. We thank Lars Haferkamp for computational assistance and Wilfried Seidel and a referee for their remarks on alternative test procedures.     

A Cautionary Note on the Use of the Grønnesby and Borgan Goodness-of-Fit Test for the Cox Proportional Hazards Model

Grønnesby and Borgan (1996, Lifetime Data Analysis 2, 315–328) propose an omnibus goodness-of-fit test for the Cox proportional hazards model. The test is based on grouping the subjects by their estimated risk score and comparing the number of observed and a model based estimated number of expected events within each group. We show, using extensive simulations, that even for moderate sample sizes the choice of number of groups is critical for the test to attain the specified size. In light of these results we suggest a grouping strategy under which the test attains the correct size even for small samples. The power of the test statistic seems to be acceptable when compared to other goodness-of-fit tests.