Means

For a population mean vector , the usual estimate is the sample mean vector

A variance estimate for is , where is the sample covariance matrix

These statistics can be computed from a procedure such as PROC CORR. This approach is illustrated in Example 55.2.

Regression Coefficients

Many SAS procedures are available for regression analysis. Among them, PROC REG provides the most general analysis capabilities, and others like PROC LOGISTIC and PROC MIXED provide more specialized analyses.

Some regression procedures, such as REG and LOGISTIC, create an EST type data set that contains both the parameter estimates for the regression coefficients and their associated covariance matrix. You can read an EST type data set in the MIANALYZE procedure with the DATA= option. This approach is illustrated in Example 55.3.

Other procedures, such as GLM, MIXED, and GENMOD, do not generate EST type data sets for regression coefficients. For PROC MIXED and PROC GENMOD, you can use ODS OUTPUT statement to save parameter estimates in a data set and the associated covariance matrix in a separate data set. These data sets are then read in the MIANALYZE procedure with the PARMS= and COVB= options, respectively. This approach is illustrated in Example 55.4 for PROC MIXED and in Example 55.5 for PROC GENMOD.

PROC GLM does not display tables for covariance matrices. However, you can use the ODS OUTPUT statement to save parameter estimates and associated standard errors in a data set and the associated matrix in a separate data set. These data sets are then read in the MIANALYZE procedure with the PARMS= and XPXI= options, respectively. This approach is illustrated in Example 55.6.

For univariate inference, only parameter estimates and associated standard errors are needed. You can use the ODS OUTPUT statement to save parameter estimates and associated standard errors in a data set. This data set is then read in the MIANALYZE procedure with the PARMS= option. This approach is illustrated in Example 55.4.

Correlation Coefficients

For the population correlation coefficient , a point estimate is the sample correlation coefficient . However, for nonzero , the distribution of is skewed.

The distribution of can be normalized through Fisher’s transformation

is approximately normally distributed with mean and variance .

With a point estimate and an approximate confidence interval for , a point estimate and a confidence interval for can be obtained by applying the inverse transformation

to , and .

This approach is illustrated in Example 55.10.

Ratios of Variable Means

For the ratio of means for variables and , the point estimate is , the ratio of the sample means. The Taylor expansion and delta method can be applied to the function to obtain the variance estimate (Schafer 1997, p. 196)

where and are the sample variances of and , respectively, and is the sample covariance between and .

A ratio of sample means will be approximately unbiased and normally distributed if the coefficient of variation of the denominator (the standard error for the mean divided by the estimated mean) is or less (Cochran 1977, p. 166; Schafer 1997, p. 196).