Robust Universal Inference For Misspecified Models

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Park, Beomjo, Balakrishnan, Sivaraman, Wasserman, Larry
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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author Park, Beomjo
Balakrishnan, Sivaraman
Wasserman, Larry
author_facet Park, Beomjo
Balakrishnan, Sivaraman
Wasserman, Larry
contents In statistical inference, it is rarely realistic that the hypothesized statistical model is well-specified, and consequently it is important to understand the effects of misspecification on inferential procedures. When the hypothesized statistical model is misspecified, the natural target of inference is a projection of the data generating distribution onto the model. We present a general method for constructing valid confidence sets for such projections, under weak regularity conditions, despite possible model misspecification. Our method builds upon the universal inference method and is based on inverting a family of split-sample tests of relative fit. We study settings in which our methods yield either exact or approximate, finite-sample valid confidence sets for various projection distributions. We study rates at which the resulting confidence sets shrink around their target of inference and complement these results with a simulation study and a study of causal discovery using a linear causal model with the CausalEffectPairs dataset.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2307_04034
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Robust Universal Inference For Misspecified Models
Park, Beomjo
Balakrishnan, Sivaraman
Wasserman, Larry
Methodology
In statistical inference, it is rarely realistic that the hypothesized statistical model is well-specified, and consequently it is important to understand the effects of misspecification on inferential procedures. When the hypothesized statistical model is misspecified, the natural target of inference is a projection of the data generating distribution onto the model. We present a general method for constructing valid confidence sets for such projections, under weak regularity conditions, despite possible model misspecification. Our method builds upon the universal inference method and is based on inverting a family of split-sample tests of relative fit. We study settings in which our methods yield either exact or approximate, finite-sample valid confidence sets for various projection distributions. We study rates at which the resulting confidence sets shrink around their target of inference and complement these results with a simulation study and a study of causal discovery using a linear causal model with the CausalEffectPairs dataset.
title Robust Universal Inference For Misspecified Models
topic Methodology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.04034