CLONING DATA: GENERATING DATASETS WITH EXACTLY THE SAME MULTIPLE LINEAR REGRESSION FIT

This paper presents a simple computational procedure for generating ‘matching’ or ‘cloning’ datasets so that they have exactly the same fitted multiple linear regression equation. The method is simple to implement and provides an alternative to generating datasets under an assumed model. The advantage is that, unlike the case for the straight model‐based alternative, parameter estimates from the original data and the generated data do not include any model error. This distinction suggests that ‘same fit’ procedures may provide a general and useful alternative to model‐based procedures, and have a wide range of applications. For example, as well as being useful for teaching, cloned datasets can provide a model‐free way of confidentializing data.