A Comparison Of Multiple Imputation Methods For Categorical Data

Abstract

This thesis evaluates the performance of several multiple imputation methods for categorical data, including multiple imputation by chained equations using generalized linear models, multiple imputation by chained equations using classification and regression trees and non-parametric Bayesian multiple imputation for categorical data (using the Dirichlet process mixture of products of multinomial distributions model). The performance of each method is evaluated with repeated sampling studies using housing unit data from the American Community Survey 2012. These data afford exploration of practical problems such as multicollinearity and large dimensions. This thesis highlights some advantages and limitations of each method compared to others. Finally, it provides suggestions on which method should be preferred, and conditions under which the suggestions hold.