boxtid Power transformations by Box-Tidwell method boxtid

SAS Macro Programs: boxtid

$Version: 1.2 (31 Jul 2000)
Michael Friendly
York University

The boxtid macro ( [download] get boxtid.sas)

Power transformations by Box-Tidwell method

The BOXTID macro finds power transformations for some or all of the predictors in a regression model using the Box-Tidwell method. In addition, it can produce plots showing the influence of individual observations on the selection of powers. These are partial residual plots for the constructed variables X * log X. Observations with large studentized residuals or large Cook's distances are labeled automatically using the ID= variable.

As a convenience, an output data set containing the optimally transformed variables is also produced.

Usage

The BOXTID macro takes 14 keyword arguments. You must specify either the RESP= or YVAR= parameter, and the names of all predictors (XVAR=). For example: 
  %boxtid(data=angell, yvar=moralint,
       xvar=hetero mobility, id=city);

Parameters

Default values are shown after the parameter name.
DATA=_last_
Name of input data set
RESP=
The name of the response variable
YVAR=
Response variable (synonym for RESP=)
XVAR=
Names of the predictors in the model. This must be a simple list of variable names, i.e., lists like X1-X10 are not allowed.
XTRANS=
Variables to be transformed: names or indices. If XVAR=X1 X2 X3 X7 X9, you may specify either XTRANS=X3 X7 X9 or XTRANS=3 4 5 for the same effect. If not specified, all variables in the XVAR= list are transformed.
PREFIX=T_
Prefix for names of transformed variables. If the X variables are X1 X2 X3, the output data set will contain T_X1, T_X2, T_X3 when the PREFIX=T_.
ID=
Name of an ID variable, used as a point label in plots.
OUT=boxtid
Name of output data set
ROUND=0.5
Round powers. The estimated power for each predictor is rounded to the nearest ROUND= unit in constructing the transformed variables.
MAXIT=15
Maximum number of iterations
CONVERGE=0.001
Convergence criterion. The process stops when the largest change in an estimated power is less than the CONVERGE= value, or when MAXIT iterations would be exceeded.
PPLOT=
Specifies printer plots, if any to be produced. Either or both of the keywords TRANS and INFL.
GPLOT=INFL
Specifies high-res influence plots.
QUIET=N
Y or N. QUIET=Y suppresses printout of the iteration history.

Example

The example below finds power transformations of the variables Income and Education in a model predicting occupational prestige for these variables, plus linear and quadratic terms in Women (% of women in an occupational category). 
%include macros(boxtid);        *-- or include in an autocall library;
goptions hsize=6.5in vsize=6.5in;

title 'Occupational Prestige - Box-Tidwell transformations';
%include data(prestige);

data prestige;
   set prestige;
   women2 = women**2;
   run;

%boxtid(data=prestige, 
   yvar=Prestige, 
   xvar=Women Women2 Educ Income,
   xtrans=Educ Income,      /* vars to xform: educ income,     */
   id=job,
   out=boxtid);
The procedure indicates that the model should include Educ2 and log(Income). The influence plots are shown below. Observations with large studentized residuals or large Cook's distances are labeled automatically.

The relationship of the transformed variables to Prestige may be seen by plotting the T_ variables against Prestige from the output dataset, with a smoothed lowess curve. 

%lowess(data=boxtid, x=t_income, y=prestige, id=job,
        f=.667, plot=YES, colors=blue red, interp=rl);

%lowess(data=boxtid, x=t_educ, y=prestige, id=job,
        f=.667, plot=YES, colors=blue red, interp=rl);

See also

boxcox Power transformations by Box-Cox method
boxglm Power transformations by Box-Cox method for GLM
lowess Locally weighted scatterplot smoother
resline Resistant line for bivariate data
sprdplot Spread-Level plot to find transformation to equalize variances.
symbox Boxplots for transformations to symmetry