Analyzing Compositional Data with R

✍ Scribed by K. Gerald van den Boogaart, Raimon Tolosana-Delgado (auth.)

• Publisher: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
• Year: 2013
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 269
• Series: Use R!
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This book presents the statistical analysis of compositional data sets, i.e., data in percentages, proportions, concentrations, etc. The subject is covered from its grounding principles to the practical use in descriptive exploratory analysis, robust linear models and advanced multivariate statistical methods, including zeros and missing values, and paying special attention to data visualization and model display issues. Many illustrated examples and code chunks guide the reader into their modeling and interpretation. And, though the book primarily serves as a reference guide for the R package “compositions,” it is also a general introductory text on Compositional Data Analysis.

Awareness of their special characteristics spread in the Geosciences in the early sixties, but a strategy for properly dealing with them was not available until the works of Aitchison in the eighties. Since then, research has expanded our understanding of their theoretical principles and the potentials and limitations of their interpretation. This is the first comprehensive textbook addressing these issues, as well as their practical implications with regard to software.

The book is intended for scientists interested in statistically analyzing their compositional data. The subject enjoys relatively broad awareness in the geosciences and environmental sciences, but the spectrum of recent applications also covers areas like medicine, official statistics, and economics.

Readers should be familiar with basic univariate and multivariate statistics. Knowledge of R is recommended but not required, as the book is self-contained.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Matter....Pages i-xv
Introduction....Pages 1-12
Fundamental Concepts of Compositional Data Analysis....Pages 13-50
Distributions for Random Compositions....Pages 51-71
Descriptive Analysis of Compositional Data....Pages 73-93
Linear Models for Compositions....Pages 95-175
Multivariate Statistics....Pages 177-207
Zeroes, Missings, and Outliers....Pages 209-253
Back Matter....Pages 255-258

✦ Subjects

Statistical Theory and Methods; Statistics and Computing/Statistics Programs; Statistics for Engineering, Physics, Computer Science, Chemistry and Earth Sciences; Geochemistry