SAS Modeling Procs

Well, so you want to be a SAS Modeler. Or atleast get a job as a junior one , and then learn on the job (we all did). Here are some SAS Procs you need to brush up on-

1) Proc Reg – Continuous Regression.

2) Proc Logistic –Logistic Regression.

3) Proc Probit –Categorical regressors also included in this.

4) Proc GLM –General Linear Models based on OLS. PROC GLM handles models relating one or several continuous dependent variables to one or several independent variables. The independent variables may be either classification variables, which divide the observations into discrete groups, or continuous variables.Proc GLM is the preferred procedure for doing univariate analysis of variance , multivariate analysis of variance , and most types of regression. :Note there is a Proc Anova also.

5) Proc Mixed –The PROC MIXED was specifically designed to fit mixed effect models. It can model random and mixed effect data.PROC MIXED has three options for the method of estimation. They are: ML (Maximum Likelihood), REML (Restricted or Residual maximum likelihood, which is the default method) and MIVQUE0 (Minimum Variance Quadratic Unbiased Estimation). ML and REML are based on a maximum likelihood estimation approach. They require the assumption that the distribution of the dependent variable (error term and the random effects) is normal. ML is just the regular maximum likelihood method,that is, the parameter estimates that it produces are such values of the model parameters that maximize the likelihood function. REML method is a variant of maximum likelihood estimation; REML estimators are obtained not from maximizing the whole likelihood function, but only that part that is invariant to the fixed effects part of the linear model. In other words, if y = Xb + Zu + e, where Xb is the fixed effects part, Zu is the random effects part and e is the error term, then the REML estimates are obtained by maximizing the likelihood function of K’y, where K is a full rank matrix with columns orthogonal to the columns of the X matrix, that is, K’X = 0. I

6) Proc Genmod-PROC GENMOD uses a class statement for specifying categorical (classification) variables, so indicator variables do not have to be constructed in advance, as is the case with, for example, PROC LOGISTIC. Interactions can be fitted by specifying, for example, age*sex. The response variable or the explanatory variable can be character  while PROC LOGISTIC requires explanatory variables to be numeric.

7) Proc Corr-CORR procedure computes correlation coefficients between variables. It can also produce covariances.

8) Proc Anova-PROC ANOVA handles only balanced ANOVA designs

Required reading http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regression_analysis

SAS Online Doc

Additional Reading-

http://www.pauldickman.com/teaching/sas/genmod_logistic.php

http://www.psych.yorku.ca/lab/sas/sasanova.htm

Project Management Certification (PMP)

Some resources for getting the PMP certification (based on a Linkedin Question)- This is a useful not too expensive and not very very tough certification for professionals who manage projects (and don’t we all !)

Online Websites-

Providers- http://tel.occe.ou.edu/cgi-bin/PMI_Provider/repsearch.cgi

The main website –http://www.pmi.org/Pages/default.aspx

Credentials-http://www.pmi.org/CareerDevelopment/Pages/Obtaining-Credential.aspx

Some white papers –http://www.globalknowledge.com/training/whitepaperlist.asp?pageid=502&wpcat=7&sort=&country=United+States

An additional book-http://www.amazon.com/PMP-Exam-Prep-Fifth-Passing/dp/1932735003

The main book – PMBOK

The detailed answers on the Linkedin site are much more helpful- Try it.

http://www.linkedin.com/answers/management/business-analytics/MGM_ANA/207457-6691344

Project Management Tools:Alternatives to MS Project

Some popular and free project management tools are –

1) Trac –http://trac.edgewall.org/

2) Dotproject http://www.dotproject.net/

3) OpenProj –http://sourceforge.net/projects/openproj/

4) DreamTeam –http://dreamfactory.com/solutions/dreamteam/amazon

5) Bugzilla –http://www.bugzilla.org/

6) Liquid Planner –http://www.liquidplanner.com/

7) Basecamp http://www.basecamphq.com/

8) Rally Software http://www.rallydev.com/

9) Gantt Charts in Google Apps

http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2008/07/spreadsheet-gadgets-free-collaborative.html

10) Some more alternatives from another good blog (http://woork.blogspot.com/)

http://woork.blogspot.com/2008/03/resources-on-line-for-project.html

11) Assembla www.assembla.com

Cloud Computing (Cooler and Lower)

The changes in Google Docs means that cloud computing now enables you to imbed web like objects in mundane spreadsheets (for free) and also allows you to backup your Google Docs using the Google Gears application.The Google gadgets are also nifty like displaying Gannt charts.

http://gears.google.com/?platform=win

You can collaborate on a spreadsheet on the internet also

With these changes- Google Docs is more than a big alternative to Windows Office- especially thanks to much lower initial  costs, and zero maintainace costs. Also with the offline Google Gears backup,you do have access to your data even without the internet, it allows you to de facto create a cloud version of Windows OS -My Briefcase .

Not 100 % of the data or office documents within an organization need to reside locally. Yet System administrators continue to resist Google docs (because well you don’t need system administrators once you totally get into this cloud computing business).

Of course, Google will need to address privacy and ownership issues, which given its battles with retail data will cast a cloud on it’s cloud for the corporate version of the retail services.

Monetizing my Linked In network

This are the stats of my linked in network.

Now having 3219 contacts is clearly more valuable than 32 contacts. But the quality of contacts is important as well.I manage two groups on Linkedin ,Decision Stats and Creative Destruction, have got 1 job , lots of CXO level contacts , got ideas for two websites (including this one), been interviewed once for a website (www.analyticbrdige.com) and get increasing numbers of recruiter calls everyday. But how do I convert this value into a number.

So whats the true economic value of my Linked In network.

1) Lets assume each contact has a minimum value of 10 cents. This is to remove duplication and negate the effect of Linkedin Open Networkers or LIONs.

2) Lets assume each CXO level contact is worth 5 dollars.Thats about 300 CXO networkers.

3)Lets assume each recruiter is worth 1 $. Thats about 500 recruiters.

4) Going forward regional contacts – Lets put the value of a Bay Area contact at 2$ while New York Contact at 1.1 $. New York contacts are less helpful when it comes to technology.

Well, doing the maths I come to a value of 6500 USD or a utility value of around 2 $ per contact. Now compare this with Linkedin ‘s valuation which is at 1 billion for 25 million people. Thats 40 USD per unique contact.

So my calculation assumes a duplication of 40/2 =20 times atleast. Which is reasonable. This assumes of course that LI gets the same value for each contact that I do, which may or may not be true.

So whats the value of your Linkedin Network today. 🙂

Joomla 1.5

Joomla 1.5 is a terrific CMS release. I did some work for half an hour, and the results are here. Its almost as easy to use as WordPress (note almost) and quite powerful in content customization.

https://decisionstats.com/joomla15/

The New WordPress

WordPress : For people who would rather spend time on the content than the code.

Easy to install,maintain,upgrade, beautiful themes,lots of plug-ins –

The easy -sleek dashboard

The best is of course the ease by which I can now insert pictures-

This is much much better than Blogger..though other Typepad-s like blogging platforms are said to be good too. Google seems to have forgotten re designing blogspot and news.google.com- and the competition is taking it all.