Assign an object to a place based on probability

[ciro]

Hi,

I am not sure whether this is right forum to ask this question.

I have a dataset like the following:

data have;
object=1; place='A'; prob=0.6;output;
object=1; place='B'; prob=0.3;output;
object=1; place='C'; prob=0.1;output;
object=2; place='A'; prob=0.2;output;
object=2; place='D'; prob=0.4;output;
object=2; place='E'; prob=0.3;output;
object=2; place='F'; prob=0.1;output;
run;

that is object 1 is in place A with probability 0.6, in place B with probability 0.3, in place C with probability 0.1.

I want to assign randomly each subject in only one place based on the probability. that is the output dataset should be like this.

data want;
object=1; place='A'; prob=0.6; in=1;output;
object=1; place='B'; prob=0.3; in=0;output;
object=1; place='C'; prob=0.1; in=0;output;
object=2; place='A'; prob=0.2; in=0;output;
object=2; place='D'; prob=0.4; in=0;output;
object=2; place='E'; prob=0.3; in=1;output;
object=2; place='F'; prob=0.1; in=0;output;
run;

in this example object 1 was assigned to place A and object 2 to place E. the assignation should be random.

the real dataset is quite big, each object has possibly a long list of places, and the list of places is different for each object.

Any advice is much appreciated and, if possible, I would also like to compare different kind of solutions: data steps, iml, OR(?)...

Thank you very much in advance

[PaigeMiller · Accepted solution]

This seems like a job for the RAND function with tabled distribution.

https://documentation.sas.com/doc/en/pgmmvacdc/9.4/lefunctionsref/p0fpeei0opypg8n1b06qe4r040lv.htm#p...

data have;
object=1; place='A'; prob=0.6;output;
object=1; place='B'; prob=0.3;output;
object=1; place='C'; prob=0.1;output;
object=2; place='A'; prob=0.2;output;
object=2; place='D'; prob=0.4;output;
object=2; place='E'; prob=0.3;output;
object=2; place='F'; prob=0.1;output;
run;
proc transpose data=have out=have_t;
    by object;
    var prob;
run;
data want;
    merge have have_t;
    retain z;
    by object;
    if first.object then do; 
        seq=0;
        z=rand('tabled',of col:);
    end;
    seq+1;
    if seq=z then in=1;
    else in=0;
    keep object place prob in;
run;

[FreelanceReinh]

Hi @ciro,

---

@ciro wrote:

(...) if possible, I would also like to compare different kind of solutions: data steps, iml, OR(?)...

---

I don't have a SAS/IML or SAS/OR license, so here's another data step solution:

data want(drop=_:);
call streaminit(27182818);
do until(last.object);
  set have;
  by object;
  if ~_a then do;  /* i.e., if the object has not been assigned yet */
    in=rand('bern',fuzz(prob/(1-coalesce(_cp,0))));
    _cp=sum(_cp,prob); /* "cumulative probability" */
    _a=in;
  end;
  else in=0;
  output;
end;
run;

The FUZZ function serves as a safety measure against rounding errors (up to 1E-12) -- assuming that there are no cases with 0<prob<=1E-12.

[Ksharp]

"the assignation should be random."

It is randomly according to variable 'prob' , or just equal probability random ?

data have;
object=1; place='A'; prob=0.6;output;
object=1; place='B'; prob=0.3;output;
object=1; place='C'; prob=0.1;output;
object=2; place='A'; prob=0.2;output;
object=2; place='D'; prob=0.4;output;
object=2; place='E'; prob=0.3;output;
object=2; place='F'; prob=0.1;output;
run;
proc surveyselect data=have sampsize=1 seed=123 outrandom out=temp;
strata object;
run;
data want;
 merge have temp(keep=object place in=inb);
 by object  place;
 in=inb;
run;

[ciro]

thanks Ksharp. It should be random according to variable prob.

[Ksharp]

OK. How about this one ?

data have;
object=1; place='A'; prob=0.6;output;
object=1; place='B'; prob=0.3;output;
object=1; place='C'; prob=0.1;output;
object=2; place='A'; prob=0.2;output;
object=2; place='D'; prob=0.4;output;
object=2; place='E'; prob=0.3;output;
object=2; place='F'; prob=0.1;output;
run;
proc surveyselect data=have sampsize=1 seed=123 method=pps out=temp;
strata object;
size prob;
run;
data want;
 merge have temp(keep=object place in=inb);
 by object  place;
 in=inb;
run;

[ciro]

Thank you guys. all solutions seem to work fine!