Multiple Imputation for Missing Edge Data: A Predictive Evaluation Method with
Application to Add Health
#MMPMID26858508
Wang C
; Butts CT
; Hipp JR
; Jose R
; Lakon CM
Soc Networks
2016[Mar]; 45
(?): 89-98
PMID26858508
show ga
Recent developments have made model-based imputation of network data feasible in
principle, but the extant literature provides few practical examples of its use.
In this paper we consider 14 schools from the widely used In-School Survey of Add
Health (Harris et al., 2009), applying an ERGM-based estimation and simulation
approach to impute the network missing data for each school. Add Health's complex
study design leads to multiple types of missingness, and we introduce practical
techniques for handing each. We also develop a cross-validation based method -
Held-Out Predictive Evaluation (HOPE) - for assessing this approach. Our results
suggest that ERGM-based imputation of edge variables is a viable approach to the
analysis of complex studies such as Add Health, provided that care is used in
understanding and accounting for the study design.