math::statistics(3tcl) 0.5 math "Tcl Math Library"

NAME

math::statistics - Basic statistical functions and procedures

TABLE OF CONTENTS

    TABLE OF CONTENTS
    SYNOPSIS
    DESCRIPTION
    GENERAL PROCEDURES
    MULTIVARIATE LINEAR REGRESSION
    STATISTICAL DISTRIBUTIONS
    DATA MANIPULATION
    PLOT PROCEDURES
    THINGS TO DO
    EXAMPLES
    BUGS, IDEAS, FEEDBACK
    KEYWORDS

SYNOPSIS

package require Tcl 8
package require math::statistics 0.5

::math::statistics::mean data
::math::statistics::min data
::math::statistics::max data
::math::statistics::number data
::math::statistics::stdev data
::math::statistics::var data
::math::statistics::pstdev data
::math::statistics::pvar data
::math::statistics::median data
::math::statistics::basic-stats data
::math::statistics::histogram limits values
::math::statistics::corr data1 data2
::math::statistics::interval-mean-stdev data confidence
::math::statistics::t-test-mean data est_mean est_stdev confidence
::math::statistics::test-normal data confidence
::math::statistics::lillieforsFit data
::math::statistics::quantiles data confidence
::math::statistics::quantiles limits counts confidence
::math::statistics::autocorr data
::math::statistics::crosscorr data1 data2
::math::statistics::mean-histogram-limits mean stdev number
::math::statistics::minmax-histogram-limits min max number
::math::statistics::linear-model xdata ydata intercept
::math::statistics::linear-residuals xdata ydata intercept
::math::statistics::test-2x2 n11 n21 n12 n22
::math::statistics::print-2x2 n11 n21 n12 n22
::math::statistics::control-xbar data ?nsamples?
::math::statistics::control-Rchart data ?nsamples?
::math::statistics::test-xbar control data
::math::statistics::test-Rchart control data
::math::statistics::tstat dof ?alpha?
::math::statistics::mv-wls wt1 weights_and_values
::math::statistics::mv-ols values
::math::statistics::pdf-normal mean stdev value
::math::statistics::pdf-exponential mean value
::math::statistics::pdf-uniform xmin xmax value
::math::statistics::cdf-normal mean stdev value
::math::statistics::cdf-exponential mean value
::math::statistics::cdf-uniform xmin xmax value
::math::statistics::cdf-students-t degrees value
::math::statistics::random-normal mean stdev number
::math::statistics::random-exponential mean number
::math::statistics::random-uniform xmin xmax value
::math::statistics::histogram-uniform xmin xmax limits number
::math::statistics::filter varname data expression
::math::statistics::map varname data expression
::math::statistics::samplescount varname list expression
::math::statistics::subdivide
::math::statistics::plot-scale canvas xmin xmax ymin ymax
::math::statistics::plot-xydata canvas xdata ydata tag
::math::statistics::plot-xyline canvas xdata ydata tag
::math::statistics::plot-tdata canvas tdata tag
::math::statistics::plot-tline canvas tdata tag
::math::statistics::plot-histogram canvas counts limits tag

DESCRIPTION

The math::statistics package contains functions and procedures for basic statistical data analysis, such as:

It is meant to help in developing data analysis applications or doing ad hoc data analysis, it is not in itself a full application, nor is it intended to rival with full (non-)commercial statistical packages.

The purpose of this document is to describe the implemented procedures and provide some examples of their usage. As there is ample literature on the algorithms involved, we refer to relevant text books for more explanations. The package contains a fairly large number of public procedures. They can be distinguished in three sets: general procedures, procedures that deal with specific statistical distributions, list procedures to select or transform data and simple plotting procedures (these require Tk). Note: The data that need to be analyzed are always contained in a simple list. Missing values are represented as empty list elements.

GENERAL PROCEDURES

The general statistical procedures are:

::math::statistics::mean data
Determine the mean value of the given list of data.

data - List of data



::math::statistics::min data
Determine the minimum value of the given list of data.

data - List of data



::math::statistics::max data
Determine the maximum value of the given list of data.

data - List of data



::math::statistics::number data
Determine the number of non-missing data in the given list

data - List of data



::math::statistics::stdev data
Determine the sample standard deviation of the data in the given list

data - List of data



::math::statistics::var data
Determine the sample variance of the data in the given list

data - List of data



::math::statistics::pstdev data
Determine the population standard deviation of the data in the given list

data - List of data



::math::statistics::pvar data
Determine the population variance of the data in the given list

data - List of data



::math::statistics::median data
Determine the median of the data in the given list (Note that this requires sorting the data, which may be a costly operation)

data - List of data



::math::statistics::basic-stats data
Determine a list of all the descriptive parameters: mean, minimum, maximum, number of data, sample standard deviation, sample variance, population standard deviation and population variance.

(This routine is called whenever either or all of the basic statistical parameters are required. Hence all calculations are done and the relevant values are returned.)

data - List of data



::math::statistics::histogram limits values
Determine histogram information for the given list of data. Returns a list consisting of the number of values that fall into each interval. (The first interval consists of all values lower than the first limit, the last interval consists of all values greater than the last limit. There is one more interval than there are limits.)

limits - List of upper limits (in ascending order) for the intervals of the histogram.

values - List of data



::math::statistics::corr data1 data2
Determine the correlation coefficient between two sets of data.

data1 - First list of data

data2 - Second list of data



::math::statistics::interval-mean-stdev data confidence
Return the interval containing the mean value and one containing the standard deviation with a certain level of confidence (assuming a normal distribution)

data - List of raw data values (small sample)

confidence - Confidence level (0.95 or 0.99 for instance)



::math::statistics::t-test-mean data est_mean est_stdev confidence
Test whether the mean value of a sample is in accordance with the estimated normal distribution with a certain level of confidence. Returns 1 if the test succeeds or 0 if the mean is unlikely to fit the given distribution.

data - List of raw data values (small sample)

est_mean - Estimated mean of the distribution

est_stdev - Estimated stdev of the distribution

confidence - Confidence level (0.95 or 0.99 for instance)



::math::statistics::test-normal data confidence
Test whether the given data follow a normal distribution with a certain level of confidence. Returns 1 if the data are normally distributed within the level of confidence, returns 0 if not. The underlying test is the Lilliefors test.

data - List of raw data values

confidence - Confidence level (one of 0.80, 0.90, 0.95 or 0.99)



::math::statistics::lillieforsFit data
Returns the goodness of fit to a normal distribution according to Lilliefors. The higher the number, the more likely the data are indeed normally distributed. The test requires at least five data points.

data - List of raw data values



::math::statistics::quantiles data confidence
Return the quantiles for a given set of data

data - List of raw data values

confidence - Confidence level (0.95 or 0.99 for instance)



::math::statistics::quantiles limits counts confidence
Return the quantiles based on histogram information (alternative to the call with two arguments)

limits - List of upper limits from histogram

counts - List of counts for for each interval in histogram

confidence - Confidence level (0.95 or 0.99 for instance)



::math::statistics::autocorr data
Return the autocorrelation function as a list of values (assuming equidistance between samples, about 1/2 of the number of raw data)

The correlation is determined in such a way that the first value is always 1 and all others are equal to or smaller than 1. The number of values involved will diminish as the "time" (the index in the list of returned values) increases

data - Raw data for which the autocorrelation must be determined



::math::statistics::crosscorr data1 data2
Return the cross-correlation function as a list of values (assuming equidistance between samples, about 1/2 of the number of raw data)

The correlation is determined in such a way that the values can never exceed 1 in magnitude. The number of values involved will diminish as the "time" (the index in the list of returned values) increases.

data1 - First list of data

data2 - Second list of data



::math::statistics::mean-histogram-limits mean stdev number
Determine reasonable limits based on mean and standard deviation for a histogram

Convenience function - the result is suitable for the histogram function.

mean - Mean of the data

stdev - Standard deviation

number - Number of limits to generate (defaults to 8)



::math::statistics::minmax-histogram-limits min max number
Determine reasonable limits based on a minimum and maximum for a histogram

Convenience function - the result is suitable for the histogram function.

min - Expected minimum

max - Expected maximum

number - Number of limits to generate (defaults to 8)



::math::statistics::linear-model xdata ydata intercept
Determine the coefficients for a linear regression between two series of data (the model: Y = A + B*X). Returns a list of parameters describing the fit

xdata - List of independent data

ydata - List of dependent data to be fitted

intercept - (Optional) compute the intercept (1, default) or fit to a line through the origin (0)

The result consists of the following list:

::math::statistics::linear-residuals xdata ydata intercept
Determine the difference between actual data and predicted from the linear model.

Returns a list of the differences between the actual data and the predicted values.

xdata - List of independent data

ydata - List of dependent data to be fitted

intercept - (Optional) compute the intercept (1, default) or fit to a line through the origin (0)

::math::statistics::test-2x2 n11 n21 n12 n22
Determine if two set of samples, each from a binomial distribution, differ significantly or not (implying a different parameter).

Returns the "chi-square" value, which can be used to the determine the significance.

n11 - Number of outcomes with the first value from the first sample.

n21 - Number of outcomes with the first value from the second sample.

n12 - Number of outcomes with the second value from the first sample.

n22 - Number of outcomes with the second value from the second sample.



::math::statistics::print-2x2 n11 n21 n12 n22
Determine if two set of samples, each from a binomial distribution, differ significantly or not (implying a different parameter).

Returns a short report, useful in an interactive session.

n11 - Number of outcomes with the first value from the first sample.

n21 - Number of outcomes with the first value from the second sample.

n12 - Number of outcomes with the second value from the first sample.

n22 - Number of outcomes with the second value from the second sample.



::math::statistics::control-xbar data ?nsamples?
Determine the control limits for an xbar chart. The number of data in each subsample defaults to 4. At least 20 subsamples are required.

Returns the mean, the lower limit, the upper limit and the number of data per subsample.

data - List of observed data

nsamples - Number of data per subsample



::math::statistics::control-Rchart data ?nsamples?
Determine the control limits for an R chart. The number of data in each subsample defaults to 4. At least 20 subsamples are required.

Returns the mean range, the lower limit, the upper limit and the number of data per subsample.

data - List of observed data

nsamples - Number of data per subsample



::math::statistics::test-xbar control data
Determine if the data exceed the control limits for the xbar chart.

Returns a list of subsamples (their indices) that indeed violate the limits.

control - Control limits as returned by the "control-xbar" procedure

data - List of observed data



::math::statistics::test-Rchart control data
Determine if the data exceed the control limits for the R chart.

Returns a list of subsamples (their indices) that indeed violate the limits.

control - Control limits as returned by the "control-Rchart" procedure

data - List of observed data

MULTIVARIATE LINEAR REGRESSION

Besides the linear regression with a single independent variable, the statistics package provides two procedures for doing ordinary least squares (OLS) and weighted least squares (WLS) linear regression with several variables. They were written by Eric Kemp-Benedict.

In addition to these two, it provides a procedure (tstat) for calculating the value of the t-statistic for the specified number of degrees of freedom that is required to demonstrate a given level of significance.

Note: These procedures depend on the math::linearalgebra package.

Description of the procedures

::math::statistics::tstat dof ?alpha?
Returns the value of the t-distribution t* satisfying

 
    P(t*)  =  1 - alpha/2
    P(-t*) =  alpha/2

for the number of degrees of freedom dof.

Given a sample of normally-distributed data x, with an estimate xbar for the mean and sbar for the standard deviation, the alpha confidence interval for the estimate of the mean can be calculated as

 
      ( xbar - t* sbar , xbar + t* sbar)

The return values from this procedure can be compared to an estimated t-statistic to determine whether the estimated value of a parameter is significantly different from zero at the given confidence level.

int dof
Number of degrees of freedom

float alpha
Confidence level of the t-distribution. Defaults to 0.05.


::math::statistics::mv-wls wt1 weights_and_values
Carries out a weighted least squares linear regression for the data points provided, with weights assigned to each point.

The linear model is of the form

 
    y = b0 + b1 * x1 + b2 * x2 ... + bN * xN + error

and each point satisfies

 
    yi = b0 + b1 * xi1 + b2 * xi2 + ... + bN * xiN + Residual_i



The procedure returns a list with the following elements:

Arguments:

list weights_and_values
A list consisting of: the weight for the first observation, the data for the first observation (as a sublist), the weight for the second observation (as a sublist) and so on. The sublists of data are organised as lists of the value of the dependent variable y and the independent variables x1, x2 to xN.


::math::statistics::mv-ols values
Carries out an ordinary least squares linear regression for the data points provided.

This procedure simply calls ::mvlinreg::wls with the weights set to 1.0, and returns the same information.
Example of the use:

 
# Store the value of the unicode value for the "+/-" character
set pm "\u00B1"

# Provide some data
set data {{  -.67  14.18  60.03 -7.5  }
          { 36.97  15.52  34.24 14.61 }
          {-29.57  21.85  83.36 -7.   }
          {-16.9   11.79  51.67 -6.56 }
          { 14.09  16.24  36.97 -12.84}
          { 31.52  20.93  45.99 -25.4 }
          { 24.05  20.69  50.27  17.27}
          { 22.23  16.91  45.07  -4.3 }
          { 40.79  20.49  38.92  -.73 }
          {-10.35  17.24  58.77  18.78}}

# Call the ols routine
set results [::math::statistics::mv-ols $data]

# Pretty-print the results
puts "R-squared: [lindex $results 0]"
puts "Adj R-squared: [lindex $results 1]"
puts "Coefficients $pm s.e. -- \[95% confidence interval\]:"
foreach val [lindex $results 2] se [lindex $results 3] bounds [lindex $results 4] {
    set lb [lindex $bounds 0]
    set ub [lindex $bounds 1]
    puts "   $val $pm $se -- \[$lb to $ub\]"
}

STATISTICAL DISTRIBUTIONS

In the literature a large number of probability distributions can be found. The statistics package supports:

In principle for each distribution one has procedures for: The following procedures have been implemented:
::math::statistics::pdf-normal mean stdev value
Return the probability of a given value for a normal distribution with given mean and standard deviation.

mean - Mean value of the distribution

stdev - Standard deviation of the distribution

value - Value for which the probability is required



::math::statistics::pdf-exponential mean value
Return the probability of a given value for an exponential distribution with given mean.

mean - Mean value of the distribution

value - Value for which the probability is required



::math::statistics::pdf-uniform xmin xmax value
Return the probability of a given value for a uniform distribution with given extremes.

xmin - Minimum value of the distribution

xmin - Maximum value of the distribution

value - Value for which the probability is required



::math::statistics::cdf-normal mean stdev value
Return the cumulative probability of a given value for a normal distribution with given mean and standard deviation, that is the probability for values up to the given one.

mean - Mean value of the distribution

stdev - Standard deviation of the distribution

value - Value for which the probability is required



::math::statistics::cdf-exponential mean value
Return the cumulative probability of a given value for an exponential distribution with given mean.

mean - Mean value of the distribution

value - Value for which the probability is required



::math::statistics::cdf-uniform xmin xmax value
Return the cumulative probability of a given value for a uniform distribution with given extremes.

xmin - Minimum value of the distribution

xmin - Maximum value of the distribution

value - Value for which the probability is required



::math::statistics::cdf-students-t degrees value
Return the cumulative probability of a given value for a Student's t distribution with given number of degrees.

degrees - Number of degrees of freedom

value - Value for which the probability is required



::math::statistics::random-normal mean stdev number
Return a list of "number" random values satisfying a normal distribution with given mean and standard deviation.

mean - Mean value of the distribution

stdev - Standard deviation of the distribution

number - Number of values to be returned



::math::statistics::random-exponential mean number
Return a list of "number" random values satisfying an exponential distribution with given mean.

mean - Mean value of the distribution

number - Number of values to be returned



::math::statistics::random-uniform xmin xmax value
Return a list of "number" random values satisfying a uniform distribution with given extremes.

xmin - Minimum value of the distribution

xmin - Maximum value of the distribution

number - Number of values to be returned



::math::statistics::histogram-uniform xmin xmax limits number
Return the expected histogram for a uniform distribution.

xmin - Minimum value of the distribution

xmax - Maximum value of the distribution

limits - Upper limits for the buckets in the histogram

number - Total number of "observations" in the histogram

TO DO: more function descriptions to be added

DATA MANIPULATION

The data manipulation procedures act on lists or lists of lists:

::math::statistics::filter varname data expression
Return a list consisting of the data for which the logical expression is true (this command works analogously to the command foreach).

varname - Name of the variable used in the expression

data - List of data

expression - Logical expression using the variable name



::math::statistics::map varname data expression
Return a list consisting of the data that are transformed via the expression.

varname - Name of the variable used in the expression

data - List of data

expression - Expression to be used to transform (map) the data



::math::statistics::samplescount varname list expression
Return a list consisting of the counts of all data in the sublists of the "list" argument for which the expression is true.

varname - Name of the variable used in the expression

data - List of sublists, each containing the data

expression - Logical expression to test the data (defaults to "true").



::math::statistics::subdivide
Routine PM - not implemented yet

PLOT PROCEDURES

The following simple plotting procedures are available:

::math::statistics::plot-scale canvas xmin xmax ymin ymax
Set the scale for a plot in the given canvas. All plot routines expect this function to be called first. There is no automatic scaling provided.

canvas - Canvas widget to use

xmin - Minimum x value

xmax - Maximum x value

ymin - Minimum y value

ymax - Maximum y value



::math::statistics::plot-xydata canvas xdata ydata tag
Create a simple XY plot in the given canvas - the data are shown as a collection of dots. The tag can be used to manipulate the appearance.

canvas - Canvas widget to use

xdata - Series of independent data

ydata - Series of dependent data

tag - Tag to give to the plotted data (defaults to xyplot)



::math::statistics::plot-xyline canvas xdata ydata tag
Create a simple XY plot in the given canvas - the data are shown as a line through the data points. The tag can be used to manipulate the appearance.

canvas - Canvas widget to use

xdata - Series of independent data

ydata - Series of dependent data

tag - Tag to give to the plotted data (defaults to xyplot)



::math::statistics::plot-tdata canvas tdata tag
Create a simple XY plot in the given canvas - the data are shown as a collection of dots. The horizontal coordinate is equal to the index. The tag can be used to manipulate the appearance. This type of presentation is suitable for autocorrelation functions for instance or for inspecting the time-dependent behaviour.

canvas - Canvas widget to use

tdata - Series of dependent data

tag - Tag to give to the plotted data (defaults to xyplot)



::math::statistics::plot-tline canvas tdata tag
Create a simple XY plot in the given canvas - the data are shown as a line. See plot-tdata for an explanation.

canvas - Canvas widget to use

tdata - Series of dependent data

tag - Tag to give to the plotted data (defaults to xyplot)



::math::statistics::plot-histogram canvas counts limits tag
Create a simple histogram in the given canvas

canvas - Canvas widget to use

counts - Series of bucket counts

limits - Series of upper limits for the buckets

tag - Tag to give to the plotted data (defaults to xyplot)

THINGS TO DO

The following procedures are yet to be implemented:

EXAMPLES

The code below is a small example of how you can examine a set of data:

 

# Simple example:
# - Generate data (as a cheap way of getting some)
# - Perform statistical analysis to describe the data
#
package require math::statistics

#
# Two auxiliary procs
#
proc pause {time} {
   set wait 0
   after [expr {$time*1000}] {set ::wait 1}
   vwait wait
}

proc print-histogram {counts limits} {
   foreach count $counts limit $limits {
      if { $limit != {} } {
         puts [format "<%12.4g\t%d" $limit $count]
         set prev_limit $limit
      } else {
         puts [format ">%12.4g\t%d" $prev_limit $count]
      }
   }
}

#
# Our source of arbitrary data
#
proc generateData { data1 data2 } {
   upvar 1 $data1 _data1
   upvar 1 $data2 _data2

   set d1 0.0
   set d2 0.0
   for { set i 0 } { $i < 100 } { incr i } {
      set d1 [expr {10.0-2.0*cos(2.0*3.1415926*$i/24.0)+3.5*rand()}]
      set d2 [expr {0.7*$d2+0.3*$d1+0.7*rand()}]
      lappend _data1 $d1
      lappend _data2 $d2
   }
   return {}
}

#
# The analysis session
#
package require Tk
console show
canvas .plot1
canvas .plot2
pack   .plot1 .plot2 -fill both -side top

generateData data1 data2

puts "Basic statistics:"
set b1 [::math::statistics::basic-stats $data1]
set b2 [::math::statistics::basic-stats $data2]
foreach label {mean min max number stdev var} v1 $b1 v2 $b2 {
   puts "$label\t$v1\t$v2"
}
puts "Plot the data as function of \"time\" and against each other"
::math::statistics::plot-scale .plot1  0 100  0 20
::math::statistics::plot-scale .plot2  0 20   0 20
::math::statistics::plot-tline .plot1 $data1
::math::statistics::plot-tline .plot1 $data2
::math::statistics::plot-xydata .plot2 $data1 $data2

puts "Correlation coefficient:"
puts [::math::statistics::corr $data1 $data2]

pause 2
puts "Plot histograms"
.plot2 delete all
::math::statistics::plot-scale .plot2  0 20 0 100
set limits         [::math::statistics::minmax-histogram-limits 7 16]
set histogram_data [::math::statistics::histogram $limits $data1]
::math::statistics::plot-histogram .plot2 $histogram_data $limits

puts "First series:"
print-histogram $histogram_data $limits

pause 2
set limits         [::math::statistics::minmax-histogram-limits 0 15 10]
set histogram_data [::math::statistics::histogram $limits $data2]
::math::statistics::plot-histogram .plot2 $histogram_data $limits d2
.plot2 itemconfigure d2 -fill red

puts "Second series:"
print-histogram $histogram_data $limits

puts "Autocorrelation function:"
set  autoc [::math::statistics::autocorr $data1]
puts [::math::statistics::map $autoc {[format "%.2f" $x]}]
puts "Cross-correlation function:"
set  crossc [::math::statistics::crosscorr $data1 $data2]
puts [::math::statistics::map $crossc {[format "%.2f" $x]}]

::math::statistics::plot-scale .plot1  0 100 -1  4
::math::statistics::plot-tline .plot1  $autoc "autoc"
::math::statistics::plot-tline .plot1  $crossc "crossc"
.plot1 itemconfigure autoc  -fill green
.plot1 itemconfigure crossc -fill yellow

puts "Quantiles: 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 0.8, 0.9"
puts "First:  [::math::statistics::quantiles $data1 {0.1 0.2 0.5 0.8 0.9}]"
puts "Second: [::math::statistics::quantiles $data2 {0.1 0.2 0.5 0.8 0.9}]"

If you run this example, then the following should be clear:

BUGS, IDEAS, FEEDBACK

This document, and the package it describes, will undoubtedly contain bugs and other problems. Please report such in the category math :: statistics of the Tcllib SF Trackers. Please also report any ideas for enhancements you may have for either package and/or documentation.

KEYWORDS

data analysis, mathematics, statistics