computer science

SUDAAN

SUDAAN is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand SUDAAN rather than just read about it. In short: SUDAAN (an acronym for "Survey Data Analysis") is a proprietary statistical software package for the analysis of correlated data, including correlated data encountered in complex sample surveys. SUDAAN originated in 1972 at RTI International (the trade name of Research Triangle Institute).

Key takeaways

SUDAAN belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect SUDAAN to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of SUDAAN from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

SUDAAN (an acronym for "Survey Data Analysis") is a proprietary statistical software package for the analysis of correlated data, including correlated data encountered in complex sample surveys. SUDAAN originated in 1972 at RTI International (the trade name of Research Triangle Institute). Individual commercial licenses are sold for $1,460 a year, or $3,450 permanently.

Current version SUDAAN Release 11.0.3, released in May 2018, is a single program consisting of a family of thirteen analytic procedures used to analyze data from complex sample surveys and other observational and experimental studies involving repeated measures and cluster-correlated data. It provides estimates that account for complex design features of a study, including:

unequally weighted or unweighted data stratification with- or without-replacement designs multistage and cluster designs repeated measures general cluster-correlation (e.g., correlation due to multiple measures taken from patients) multiply imputed analysis variables

Example fields of use SUDAAN enables the analysis of correlated data encountered in various fields of statistical research, including:

survey research (RDD/telephone studies, area sample designs, cluster and stratified designs, list sampling) clinical trials (safety and efficacy data from multiple sites in multisite trials) group or community randomized trials observations on related family members toxicology (observations on littermates) multiple subjects within a cluster (patients within physician clinics or students within school classrooms) social statistics health outcomes research longitudinal data analyses repeated measures.

Strengths SUDAAN's strength lies in its ability to compute standard errors of ratio estimates, means, totals, regression coefficients, and other statistics in accordance with the sample design, greatly increasing the accuracy and validity of results. Many, if not most, data sets require attention to correlation and weighting, but few statistical software packages offer the user the opportunity to specify how data are correlated and weighted. For many years, SUDAAN remained the only broadly applicable software for analysis of correlated and weighted data. Currently Mplus offers similar capacities for a much broader set of models. Currently, all nine of SUDAAN's analytic procedures offer three popular robust variance estimation methods:

Taylor series linearization (generalized estimation equations [GEE] for regression models) jackknife (with or without user-specified replicate weights) balance repeated replication (BRR). SUDAAN code is similar to SAS. Although more powerful than other statistical software, SUDAAN has a steep learning curve.

Operating systems SUDAAN functions on many computing platforms—including Windows 7/10, DOS, and LINUX—either as a stand-alone statistical software tool, or in SAS-callable format (SAS Version 9).

References

External links SUDAAN home page Mplus Complex Survey Data Project

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with SUDAAN

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what SUDAAN claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to SUDAAN before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about SUDAAN ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of SUDAAN

In research: SUDAAN appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses SUDAAN in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: SUDAAN is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Proprietary commercial software for Linux, Statistical software, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for SUDAAN outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study SUDAAN in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what SUDAAN means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain SUDAAN out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is SUDAAN in simple terms?

Why does SUDAAN matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study SUDAAN?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on SUDAAN.