Paul R. Yarnold
Optimal Data Analysis, LLC
Pruning to maximize model accuracy (requiring simple hand computation) is applied to a classification tree model developed via S-PLUS to create propensity scores to improve causal inference in comparing hospitalized vs. ambulatory patients with community-acquired pneumonia. Research reported herein constitutes a thought-provoking example of a striking misalliance between forward analytic thinking and vestige statistical tools—a condition that dominates the empirical literature today. Modifications of ubiquitous methodological practices are suggested.
odajournal.com 