lmer vs lmer2 vs AD Model Builder RE
As a further thought on robust estimation for mixed models I fit the full data set with a model based on a 95% mixture of a normal distribution and a 5% Cauchy distribution I obtained the parameter estimates: real_b -1.9405e+000 9.5807e-002 real_b 1.6089e+000 3.2403e-002 real_b 2.0168e-002 1.3129e-003 real_b 1.8537e-001 1.1414e-001 real_b -1.7127e-002 7.7816e-003 compared to the estimates from R with the outlier removed. (Intercept) -1.948119 0.095877 -20.32 Height 1.640650 0.032800 50.02 Age 0.019379 0.001310 14.79 InitHeight 0.143977 0.111043 1.30 InitAge -0.014618 0.007501 -1.95 They are almost identical for statistical purposes. Also by restricting the parameterization of the full covariance matrix for the random effects slightly we are able to estimate it which speaks to the stability of the AD Model builder Random Effects software. David A. Fournier P.O. Box 2040, Sidney, B.C. V8l 3S3 Canada Phone/FAX 250-655-3364 http://otter-rsch.com