Multiple imputation deals with random draws from the posterior distribution of the variables. When you impose the MIN= and MAX= options, you restrict the possible values that can be drawn. If PROC MI draws a value outside the range, it will attempt to draw another. If this continues 100 times, it aborts the process and issues this error message. Beginning in SAS 9, you can specify the MINMAXITER= option to increase the number of attempts, although in practice this rarely works.

There are a number of other options to try as well when this occurs. You could change the imputation method, try specifying your own prior distribution, or remove the MIN= and MAX= options. If you remove the MIN= and MAX= options, you could then impose those restrictions in a DATA step after performing multiple imputations. This process might require some trial and error and is highly data dependent.

Operating System and Release Information