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SummaryAutomatic tagging by key words and phrases is important in multi-label classification of a document. In this paper, we first introduce a tagging loss to measure the discrepancy between predicted and actual tag sets, which is expressed in terms of a sum of weighted pairwise margins between two tags by their degree of similarity. We then construct a regularized empirical loss to incorporate linguistic knowledge, and identify a tagger maximizing the separations between the pairwise margins. One salient feature of the proposed method is its capability to identify novel tags absent from a training sample by using their similarity to existing tags. Computationally, the proposed method is implemented by an alternating direction method of multipliers, integrated with a difference convex algorithm. This permits scalable computation. We show that the method achieves accurate tagging, and that it compares favourably with existing methods. Finally, we apply the proposed method to tagging a Reuters news dataset.

The inverse probability weighted generalized estimating equations approach (Robins et al. 1994; Robins et al. 1995), effectively removes bias and provides valid statistical inference for regression parameter estimation in marginal models when longitudinal data contain missing values. The validity of the weighted generalized estimating equations regarding consistent estimation depends on whether the underlying missing data process is properly modelled. However, there is little work available to examine whether or not this condition holds. In this paper we propose a test constructed from two sets of estimating equations: one set is known to be unbiased, but the other set is not known. We utilize the quadratic inference function (Qu et al. 2000) method to assess their compatibility, which is equivalent to testing for the validity of the weighted generalized estimating equations approach. We conduct simulation studies to assess the performance of the proposed method. The test procedure is illustrated through a real data example. Copyright 2011, Oxford University Press.

In the generalized method of moments approach to longitudinal data analysis, unbiased estimating functions can be constructed to incorporate both the marginal mean and the correlation structure of the data. Increasing the number of parameters in the correlation structure corresponds to increasing the number of estimating functions. Thus, building a correlation model is equivalent to selecting estimating functions. This paper proposes a chi-squared test to choose informative unbiased estimating functions. We show that this methodology is useful for identifying which source of correlation it is important to incorporate when there are multiple possible sources of correlation. This method can also be applied to determine the optimal working correlation for the generalized estimating equation approach. Copyright 2008, Oxford University Press.

In the presence of data contamination or outliers, some empirical studies have indicated that the two methods of generalised estimating equations and quadratic inference functions appear to have rather different robustness behaviour. This paper presents a theoretical investigation from the perspective of the influence function to identify the causes for the difference. We show that quadratic inference functions lead to bounded influence functions and the corresponding M-estimator has a redescending property, but the generalised estimating equation approach does not. We also illustrate that, unlike generalised estimating equations, quadratic inference functions can still provide consistent estimators even if part of the data is contaminated. We conclude that the quadratic inference function is a preferable method to the generalised estimating equation as far as robustness is concerned. This conclusion is supported by simulations and real-data examples.

SUMMARY We address the matter of determining whether or not missing data in longitudinal studies are ignorable with regard to quasilikelihood or estimating equations approaches. This involves testing for whether or not the zero-mean property of estimating equations holds true. Chen & Little (1999) proposed testing for significant differences among parameter estimators calculated from sample subsets with different patterns of missing data, whereas we propose a more unified generalised score-type test. This avoids exhaustive estimation of parameters for each missing-data pattern, testing instead with a single quadratic score test statistic whether or not there is a common parameter under which the means of all the pattern-specific estimating equations are zero. Comparisons are made for the two approaches with both simulations and real data examples.

SUMMARY Generalised estimating equations enable one to estimate regression parameters consistently in longitudinal data analysis even when the correlation structure is misspecified. However, under such misspecification, the estimator of the regression parameter can be inefficient. In this paper we introduce a method of quadratic inference functions that does not involve direct estimation of the correlation parameter, and that remains optimal even if the working correlation structure is misspecified. The idea is to represent the inverse of the working correlation matrix by the linear combination of basis matrices, a representation that is valid for the working correlations most commonly used. Both asymptotic theory and simulation show that under misspecified working assumptions these estimators are more efficient than estimators from generalised estimating equations. This approach also provides a chi-squared inference function for testing nested models and a chi-squared regression misspecification test. Furthermore, the test statistic follows a chi-squared distribution asymptotically whether or not the working correlation structure is correctly specified.