Conformal Calibration of Statistical Confidence Sets

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Cabezas, Luben M. C., Soares, Guilherme P., Ramos, Thiago R., Stern, Rafael B., Izbicki, Rafael
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Cabezas, Luben M. C.
Soares, Guilherme P.
Ramos, Thiago R.
Stern, Rafael B.
Izbicki, Rafael
author_facet Cabezas, Luben M. C.
Soares, Guilherme P.
Ramos, Thiago R.
Stern, Rafael B.
Izbicki, Rafael
contents Constructing valid confidence sets is a crucial task in statistical inference, yet traditional methods often face challenges when dealing with complex models or limited observed sample sizes. These challenges are frequently encountered in modern applications, such as Likelihood-Free Inference (LFI). In these settings, confidence sets may fail to maintain a confidence level close to the nominal value. In this paper, we introduce two novel methods, TRUST and TRUST++, for calibrating confidence sets to achieve distribution-free conditional coverage. These methods rely entirely on simulated data from the statistical model to perform calibration. Leveraging insights from conformal prediction techniques adapted to the statistical inference context, our methods ensure both finite-sample local coverage and asymptotic conditional coverage as the number of simulations increases, even if n is small. They effectively handle nuisance parameters and provide computationally efficient uncertainty quantification for the estimated confidence sets. This allows users to assess whether additional simulations are necessary for robust inference. Through theoretical analysis and experiments on models with both tractable and intractable likelihoods, we demonstrate that our methods outperform existing approaches, particularly in small-sample regimes. This work bridges the gap between conformal prediction and statistical inference, offering practical tools for constructing valid confidence sets in complex models.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2411_19368
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Conformal Calibration of Statistical Confidence Sets
Cabezas, Luben M. C.
Soares, Guilherme P.
Ramos, Thiago R.
Stern, Rafael B.
Izbicki, Rafael
Methodology
Machine Learning
Constructing valid confidence sets is a crucial task in statistical inference, yet traditional methods often face challenges when dealing with complex models or limited observed sample sizes. These challenges are frequently encountered in modern applications, such as Likelihood-Free Inference (LFI). In these settings, confidence sets may fail to maintain a confidence level close to the nominal value. In this paper, we introduce two novel methods, TRUST and TRUST++, for calibrating confidence sets to achieve distribution-free conditional coverage. These methods rely entirely on simulated data from the statistical model to perform calibration. Leveraging insights from conformal prediction techniques adapted to the statistical inference context, our methods ensure both finite-sample local coverage and asymptotic conditional coverage as the number of simulations increases, even if n is small. They effectively handle nuisance parameters and provide computationally efficient uncertainty quantification for the estimated confidence sets. This allows users to assess whether additional simulations are necessary for robust inference. Through theoretical analysis and experiments on models with both tractable and intractable likelihoods, we demonstrate that our methods outperform existing approaches, particularly in small-sample regimes. This work bridges the gap between conformal prediction and statistical inference, offering practical tools for constructing valid confidence sets in complex models.
title Conformal Calibration of Statistical Confidence Sets
topic Methodology
Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.19368