logo
welcome
Quanta Magazine

Quanta Magazine

When Data Is Missing, Scientists Guess. Then Guess Again. | Quanta Magazine

Quanta Magazine
Summary
Nutrition label

85% Informative

When data goes missing, standard statistical tools, like taking averages, are no longer useful.

In the 1970s , a statistician named Donald Rubin proposed a general technique to deal with missing data.

Rubin ’s approach, called multiple imputation, takes that chance of picking one of the best guesses into account.

Multiple imputation became the go-to technique in medicine in 2010 .

New software that uses machine learning has been able to impute more complicated data.

Some researchers still worry about the mathematical rigor of these new techniques and are more hesitant to adopt them.

For now, it seems that multiple imputation is here to stay.

VR Score

91

Informative language

94

Neutral language

40

Article tone

informal

Language

English

Language complexity

51

Offensive language

not offensive

Hate speech

not hateful

Attention-grabbing headline

not detected

Known propaganda techniques

not detected

Time-value

long-living

Affiliate links

no affiliate links