Cross-sectional data

Last updated

In statistics and econometrics, cross-sectional data is a type of data collected by observing many subjects (such as individuals, firms, countries, or regions) at a single point or period of time. Analysis of cross-sectional data usually consists of comparing the differences among selected subjects, typically with no regard to differences in time.

For example, if we want to measure current obesity levels in a population, we could draw a sample of 1,000 people randomly from that population (also known as a cross section of that population), measure their weight and height, and calculate what percentage of that sample is categorized as obese. This cross-sectional sample provides us with a snapshot of that population, at that one point in time. Note that we do not know based on one cross-sectional sample if obesity is increasing or decreasing; we can only describe the current proportion.

Cross-sectional data differs from time series data, in which the same small-scale or aggregate entity is observed at various points in time. Another type of data, panel data (or longitudinal data), combines both cross-sectional and time series data aspects and looks at how the subjects (firms, individuals, etc.) change over a time series. Panel data deals with the observations on the same subjects in different times. Panel analysis uses panel data to examine changes in variables over time and its differences in variables between selected subjects.

Variants include pooled cross-sectional data, which deals with the observations on the same subjects in different times. In a rolling cross-section, both the presence of an individual in the sample and the time at which the individual is included in the sample are determined randomly. For example, a political poll may decide to interview 1000 individuals. It first selects these individuals randomly from the entire population. It then assigns a random date to each individual. This is the random date that the individual will be interviewed, and thus included in the survey. [1]

Cross-sectional data can be used in cross-sectional regression, which is regression analysis of cross-sectional data. For example, the consumption expenditures of various individuals in a fixed month could be regressed on their incomes, accumulated wealth levels, and their various demographic features to find out how differences in those features lead to differences in consumers’ behavior.

Related Research Articles

Analysis of variance (ANOVA) is a collection of statistical models and their associated estimation procedures used to analyze the differences among means. ANOVA was developed by the statistician Ronald Fisher. ANOVA is based on the law of total variance, where the observed variance in a particular variable is partitioned into components attributable to different sources of variation. In its simplest form, ANOVA provides a statistical test of whether two or more population means are equal, and therefore generalizes the t-test beyond two means. In other words, the ANOVA is used to test the difference between two or more means.

In regression analysis, a dummy variable is one that takes a binary value to indicate the absence or presence of some categorical effect that may be expected to shift the outcome. For example, if we were studying the relationship between biological sex and income, we could use a dummy variable to represent the sex of each individual in the study. The variable could take on a value of 1 for males and 0 for females. In machine learning this is known as one-hot encoding.

A cohort study is a particular form of longitudinal study that samples a cohort, performing a cross-section at intervals through time. It is a type of panel study where the individuals in the panel share a common characteristic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Time series</span> Sequence of data points over time

In mathematics, a time series is a series of data points indexed in time order. Most commonly, a time series is a sequence taken at successive equally spaced points in time. Thus it is a sequence of discrete-time data. Examples of time series are heights of ocean tides, counts of sunspots, and the daily closing value of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cross-validation (statistics)</span> Statistical model validation technique

Cross-validation, sometimes called rotation estimation or out-of-sample testing, is any of various similar model validation techniques for assessing how the results of a statistical analysis will generalize to an independent data set. Cross-validation includes resampling and sample splitting methods that use different portions of the data to test and train a model on different iterations. It is often used in settings where the goal is prediction, and one wants to estimate how accurately a predictive model will perform in practice. It can also be used to assess the quality of a fitted model and the stability of its parameters.

In statistics and optimization, errors and residuals are two closely related and easily confused measures of the deviation of an observed value of an element of a statistical sample from its "true value". The error of an observation is the deviation of the observed value from the true value of a quantity of interest. The residual is the difference between the observed value and the estimated value of the quantity of interest. The distinction is most important in regression analysis, where the concepts are sometimes called the regression errors and regression residuals and where they lead to the concept of studentized residuals. In econometrics, "errors" are also called disturbances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spurious relationship</span> Apparent, but false, correlation between causally-independent variables

In statistics, a spurious relationship or spurious correlation is a mathematical relationship in which two or more events or variables are associated but not causally related, due to either coincidence or the presence of a certain third, unseen factor.

In medical research, social science, and biology, a cross-sectional study is a type of observational study that analyzes data from a population, or a representative subset, at a specific point in time—that is, cross-sectional data.

Cointegration is a statistical property of a collection (X1X2, ..., Xk) of time series variables. First, all of the series must be integrated of order d (see Order of integration). Next, if a linear combination of this collection is integrated of order less than d, then the collection is said to be co-integrated. Formally, if (X,Y,Z) are each integrated of order d, and there exist coefficients a,b,c such that aX + bY + cZ is integrated of order less than d, then X, Y, and Z are cointegrated. Cointegration has become an important property in contemporary time series analysis. Time series often have trends—either deterministic or stochastic. In an influential paper, Charles Nelson and Charles Plosser (1982) provided statistical evidence that many US macroeconomic time series (like GNP, wages, employment, etc.) have stochastic trends.

This glossary of statistics and probability is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in the mathematical sciences of statistics and probability, their sub-disciplines, and related fields. For additional related terms, see Glossary of mathematics and Glossary of experimental design.

Panel (data) analysis is a statistical method, widely used in social science, epidemiology, and econometrics to analyze two-dimensional panel data. The data are usually collected over time and over the same individuals and then a regression is run over these two dimensions. Multidimensional analysis is an econometric method in which data are collected over more than two dimensions.

In statistics and econometrics, panel data and longitudinal data are both multi-dimensional data involving measurements over time. Panel data is a subset of longitudinal data where observations are for the same subjects each time.

In statistics and econometrics, a cross-sectional regression is a type of regression in which the explained and explanatory variables are all associated with the same single period or point in time. This type of cross-sectional analysis is in contrast to a time-series regression or longitudinal regression in which the variables are considered to be associated with a sequence of points in time.

In statistics, a fixed effects model is a statistical model in which the model parameters are fixed or non-random quantities. This is in contrast to random effects models and mixed models in which all or some of the model parameters are random variables. In many applications including econometrics and biostatistics a fixed effects model refers to a regression model in which the group means are fixed (non-random) as opposed to a random effects model in which the group means are a random sample from a population. Generally, data can be grouped according to several observed factors. The group means could be modeled as fixed or random effects for each grouping. In a fixed effects model each group mean is a group-specific fixed quantity.

Multilevel models are statistical models of parameters that vary at more than one level. An example could be a model of student performance that contains measures for individual students as well as measures for classrooms within which the students are grouped. These models can be seen as generalizations of linear models, although they can also extend to non-linear models. These models became much more popular after sufficient computing power and software became available.

In statistics, a random effects model, also called a variance components model, is a statistical model where the model parameters are random variables. It is a kind of hierarchical linear model, which assumes that the data being analysed are drawn from a hierarchy of different populations whose differences relate to that hierarchy. A random effects model is a special case of a mixed model.

In statistics, regression validation is the process of deciding whether the numerical results quantifying hypothesized relationships between variables, obtained from regression analysis, are acceptable as descriptions of the data. The validation process can involve analyzing the goodness of fit of the regression, analyzing whether the regression residuals are random, and checking whether the model's predictive performance deteriorates substantially when applied to data that were not used in model estimation.

The methodology of econometrics is the study of the range of differing approaches to undertaking econometric analysis.

In econometrics, the Arellano–Bond estimator is a generalized method of moments estimator used to estimate dynamic models of panel data. It was proposed in 1991 by Manuel Arellano and Stephen Bond, based on the earlier work by Alok Bhargava and John Denis Sargan in 1983, for addressing certain endogeneity problems. The GMM-SYS estimator is a system that contains both the levels and the first difference equations. It provides an alternative to the standard first difference GMM estimator.

References

  1. Brady, Henry E.; Johnston, Richard (2008). "The Rolling Cross Section and Causal Distribution" (PDF). University of Michigan Press. Retrieved July 13, 2008.

Further reading