version 12.1 * Evils of standardization: * This program illustrates problems with the use of standardized * variables and standardized coefficients. * Hypothetical data: a sample of 1200 blacks and 1200 whites. Assume * that equal-sized samples of blacks and whites have been drawn, but * that in this population, whites outnumber blacks by 8 to 1. Hence, * blacks have been oversampled by a factor of 8, and when the groups * are analyzed together, each black should therefore be weighted only * 1/8 as heavily as each white. In this hypothetical example, * all individuals conveniently have incomes of $3000, $3500, $4000, * $4500, $5000, or $5500, hence cases are grouped together. * Or, as an alternative, assume that 2 populations have been sampled * from. In one population, whites outnumber blacks by 8 to 1, whereas * in the other population it is a 50-50 split. * The vars are: * ncases - the number of cases having a particular combination of values * inc - income * inc2 - income with random error. The change in income conveniently * works out to be $1100 either way. The variability in income * increases as a result. * white - 0 = Black, 1 = white * NOTE: esttab (available from SSC) need to be installed. clear all input ncases inc white inc2 200 3000 0 1900 200 3000 0 4100 200 3500 1 2400 200 3500 1 4600 200 4000 0 2900 200 4000 0 5100 200 4500 1 3400 200 4500 1 5600 200 5000 0 3900 200 5000 0 6100 200 5500 1 4400 200 5500 1 6600 end * Expand back to the original 2400 cases. expand ncases drop ncases order inc inc2 white * Compute the correct relative weight. In a real sample, the weights might * be more like 1,000 for blacks and 8,000 for whites, which would mean * that a white had 1 chance in 8,000 of being selected while a black had * 1 chance in a 1000. Or, equivalently, that each black in the sample * represented 1000 blacks while each white represented 8000 whites. gen wgtright = 1 if !white replace wgtright = 8 if white * The incorrect weight ignores the oversampling of blacks, and weights * all cases equally. gen wgtwrong = 1 * E X A M P L E 1 * What effect does improper weighting of cases have on * coefficients in a perfectly specified model? * First, compute the means using the correct and * incorrect weights. Observe the differences. mean inc inc2 white [pw=wgtright] mean inc inc2 white [pw=wgtwrong] * Now, use the correct and incorrect weights in regressions. * What differences does it make? reg inc white [pw = wgtright], beta est store m1right reg inc white [pw = wgtwrong], beta est store m1wrong * Show the metric coefficients side by side esttab m1right m1wrong, mtitles r2 scalar(F) * Show the standardized coefficients side by side esttab m1right m1wrong, mtitles r2 scalar(F) beta * E X A M P L E 2 * Suppose variability in the dependent variable increases on a random * basis. What effect does an increase in residual * variance have on metric and standardized coefficients? * To examine this, we compare inc and inc2. inc2 adds random variation * to inc. We will use the correct weights. reg inc white [pw = wgtright], beta est store m2inc reg inc2 white [pw = wgtright], beta est store m2inc2 * Show the metric coefficients side by side esttab m2inc m2inc2, mtitles r2 scalar(F) * Show the standardized coefficients side by side esttab m2inc m2inc2, mtitles r2 scalar(F) beta