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What to Do about Missing Values in Time‐Series Cross‐Section Data

Bibliographic Data

ID6230933
AuthorsJames Honaker (Pennsylvania State University), Gary King (0000-0002-5327-7631, Harvard University Press)
Year2010
Volume54
Issue2
Pages561-581
Publication date2010-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0092-5853 • E-ISSN: 1540-5907
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1540-5907.2010.00447.x
OpenAlexW2125291718
LanguageEN
Citations received285
References cited53

Applications of modern methods for analyzing data with missing values, based primarily on multiple imputation, have in the last half‐decade become common in American politics and political behavior. Scholars in this subset of political science have thus increasingly avoided the biases and inefficiencies caused by ad hoc methods like listwise deletion and best guess imputation. However, researchers in much of comparative politics and international relations, and others with similar data, have been unable to do the same because the best available imputation methods work poorly with the time‐series cross‐section data structures common in these fields. We attempt to rectify this situation with three related developments. First, we build a multiple imputation model that allows smooth time trends, shifts across cross‐sectional units, and correlations over time and space, resulting in far more accurate imputations. Second, we enable analysts to incorporate knowledge from area studies experts via priors on individual missing cell values, rather than on difficult‐to‐interpret model parameters. Third, because these tasks could not be accomplished within existing imputation algorithms, in that they cannot handle as many variables as needed even in the simpler cross‐sectional data for which they were designed, we also develop a new algorithm that substantially expands the range of computationally feasible data types and sizes for which multiple imputation can be used. These developments also make it possible to implement the methods introduced here in freely available open source software that is considerably more reliable than existing algorithms

Data mining · Data science · Econometrics · Imputation (statistics · Machine learning · Missing data · Time series · Advanced Causal Inference Techniques · Computer Science · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Mathematics · Political Conflict and Governance · Software

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Unique citing works285
Citations per year15
Citation span2007 - 2026 (20)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedYes
Citation typesNeutral: 283
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