topic Re: round number by probability in SAS Programming

round number by probability

sasecn — Wed, 22 Jan 2020 18:22:14 GMT

I would like to round numbers (e.g. count of something) by probability:

If the count is a multiple of 3 with a remainder 0, it stays the same

If the count is a multiple of 3 with a remainder 1, it has 1/3 probability to round up, and 2/3 probability to round down.

If the count is a multiple of 3 with a remainder 2, it has 2/3 probability to round up, and 1/3 probability to round down.

I only know using floor and ceil to round up and down, but don't know how to use the probability.

Thanks,

Re: round number by probability

PeterClemmensen — Wed, 22 Jan 2020 18:32:59 GMT

What do you want to round to? Your numbers are integers, correct?

Here is a template to get you started..

data want;
   set have;
   r = mod (x, 3);
   if      r = 0 then rx = x;
   else if r = 1 then ..;
   else if r = 2 then ..;
run;

Re: round number by probability

sasecn — Wed, 22 Jan 2020 18:36:20 GMT

Sorry, my question is not clear.

I want to round integer numbers to base of 3. e.g. 4 will be rounded to 6 with prob=1/3, and to 3 with prob=2/3 i.e. if the number (integer) is a multiple of 3 with a remainder 1, it has 1/3 probability to round up to a number base of 3, and 2/3 probability to round down to a number base of 3.

Re: round number by probability

PeterClemmensen — Wed, 22 Jan 2020 18:47:18 GMT

A simple solution

data have;
   do x=1 to 10;
      output;
   end;
run;

data want;
   set have;
   r = mod (x, 3);
   if      r = 0 then rx = x;
   else if r = 1 then rx = ifn (rand('uniform') < 1/3, x+2, x-1);
   else if r = 2 then rx = ifn (rand('uniform') < 1/3, x-2, x+1);
run;

Re: round number by probability

Reeza — Wed, 22 Jan 2020 18:48:56 GMT

Please show what your input data looks like and what you expect for output. Thanks!

Re: round number by probability

sasecn — Wed, 22 Jan 2020 19:17:23 GMT

Thanks for your reply. Couple of questions:

Is rand('uniform')<1/3 the same as generating a prob-1/3 ? i know the uniform distribution, but is this a general use of it?

How about a more general solution for different base, e.g what if i want to round to a number of base 5, 10, 100, ....

Re: round number by probability

sasecn — Wed, 22 Jan 2020 19:20:43 GMT

It is just alike the data from draycut's reply. i have just one column of number and want to round it by adding the rounded number beside it. The key is how to round it by probability.

data have;

do x=1 to 10;

output;

end;

run;

Re: round number by probability

PGStats — Wed, 22 Jan 2020 20:24:13 GMT

For something more general, you could use:

data have;
   do x=1 to 100;
      output;
   end;
run;

%let base=5;

data want;
set have;
alpha = 1 - mod(x, &base) / &base;
value = &base * int(x / &base);
rx = choosen( rand("table", alpha), value, &base + value);
run;

Re: round number by probability

sasecn — Wed, 22 Jan 2020 22:13:36 GMT

Thanks, Would like to mark this as solution as well, bu the system won't let me.