Model Selection via Focused Information Criteria for Complex Data in Ecology and Evolution

Datasets encountered when examining deeper issues in ecology and evolution are often complex. This calls for careful strategies for both model building, model selection, and model averaging. Our paper aims at motivating, exhibiting, and further developing focused model selection criteria. In context...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
Main Authors: Claeskens, Gerda, Cunen, Celine Marie Løken, Hjort, Nils Lid
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10852/76660
http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-79766
https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2019.00415
Description
Summary:Datasets encountered when examining deeper issues in ecology and evolution are often complex. This calls for careful strategies for both model building, model selection, and model averaging. Our paper aims at motivating, exhibiting, and further developing focused model selection criteria. In contexts involving precisely formulated interest parameters, these versions of FIC, the focused information criterion, typically lead to better final precision for the most salient estimates, confidence intervals, etc. as compared to estimators obtained from other selection methods. Our methods are illustrated with real case studies in ecology; one related to bird species abundance and another to the decline in body condition for the Antarctic minke whale.