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question about a GAM model (dani)

2 messages · Highland Statistics Ltd, dani

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Message: 4
Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2018 17:38:44 +0000
From: dani <orchidn at live.com>
To: Ben Bolker <bbolker at gmail.com>, "r-sig-mixed-models at r-project.org"
	<r-sig-mixed-models at r-project.org>
Subject: Re: [R-sig-ME] question about a GAM model
Message-ID:
	<BYAPR06MB38321CD8470AE34E57716661D6090 at BYAPR06MB3832.namprd06.prod.outlook.com>
	
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Thank you very much Udita and Dr. Bolker for your responses.

It is still not clear to me how should I proceed. Would anyone else be able help with this issue,?




Dani,

GAMs are useful if you use them with care, but confusing if you just apply them because someone else is doing it as well.
Perhaps you should first ask yourself the question why you are applying a GAM. Then focus on the question
whether the output makes sense.

Based on your output it seems that nothing is important (not even as parametric terms). But I am not familiar with your
data; things like collinearity can mess up the shape of smoothers. And you don't mention the size of your data set neither.

I suggest that you have a go at Wood (2017), or if I may be bold enough to self-cite....try our Beginner's Guide to GAM (2012).



Kind regards,

Alain Zuur

  




 ?Best regards,

Dani


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Hello Dr. Zuur,


Thank you so much for your message!


I am only using this model for educational purposes, I am just playing with a dataset of 500 observations. Variables x1 and x2 are covariates and they are both displaying non-parametric associations with the outcome. The x3 variable is the variable of interest.


I noticed the value of 1 for edfs for the covariate and for the variable of interest so I asked myself if I should not remove the parametric term and re-run the model is situations like these.


If this happens when I conduct an analysis for a study, do I present such results or I re-run the model without smoothers on x2 and x3, even though in bivariate associations with the outcome, x2 and x3 showed non-parametric associations.


Thank you so much for your suggestions, I will definitely look at the two books again, they are always useful!

Best,

Dani

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