Smoothing Spline ANOVA Models

Nonparametric function estimation with stochastic data, otherwiseknown as smoothing, has been studied by several generations ofstatisticians. Assisted by the ample computing power in today'sservers, desktops, and laptops, smoothing methods have been findingtheir ways into everyday data analysis by practitioners. While scoresof methods have proved successful for univariate smoothing, onespractical in multivariate settings number far less. Smoothing splineANOVA models are a versatile family of smoothing methods derivedthrough roughness penalties, that are suitable for both univariate andmultivariate problems.In this book, the author presents a treatise on penalty smoothingunder a unified framework. Methods are developed for (i) regressionwith Gaussian and non-Gaussian responses as well as with censored lifetime data; (ii) density and conditional density estimation under avariety of sampling schemes; and (iii) hazard rate estimation withcensored life time data and covariates. The unifying themes are thegeneral penalized likelihood method and the construction ofmultivariate models with built-in ANOVA decompositions. Extensivediscussions are devoted to model construction, smoothing parameterselection, computation, and asymptotic convergence.Most of the computational and data analytical tools discussed in thebook are implemented in R, an open-source platform for statisticalcomputing and graphics. Suites of functions are embodied in the Rpackage gss, and are illustrated throughout the book using simulatedand real data examples.This monograph will be useful as a reference work for researchers intheoretical and applied statistics as well as for those in otherrelated disciplines. It can also be used as a text for graduate levelcourses on the subject. Most of the materials are accessibleto asecond year graduate student with a good training in calculus andlinear algebra and working knowledge in basic statistical inferencessuch as linear models and maximum likelihood estimates.