Prediction-Powered Inference with Imputed Covariates and Nonuniform Sampling

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Kluger, Dan M., Lu, Kerri, Zrnic, Tijana, Wang, Sherrie, Bates, Stephen
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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_version_ 1866912711305068544
author Kluger, Dan M.
Lu, Kerri
Zrnic, Tijana
Wang, Sherrie
Bates, Stephen
author_facet Kluger, Dan M.
Lu, Kerri
Zrnic, Tijana
Wang, Sherrie
Bates, Stephen
contents Machine learning models are increasingly used to produce predictions that serve as input data in subsequent statistical analyses. For example, computer vision predictions of economic and environmental indicators based on satellite imagery are used in downstream regressions; similarly, language models are widely used to approximate human ratings and opinions in social science research. However, failure to properly account for errors in the machine learning predictions renders standard statistical procedures invalid. Prior work uses what we call the Predict-Then-Debias estimator to give valid confidence intervals when machine learning algorithms impute missing variables, assuming a small complete sample from the population of interest. We expand the scope by introducing bootstrap confidence intervals that apply when the complete data is a nonuniform (i.e., weighted, stratified, or clustered) sample and to settings where an arbitrary subset of features is imputed. Importantly, the method can be applied to many settings without requiring additional calculations. We prove that these confidence intervals are valid under no assumptions on the quality of the machine learning model and are no wider than the intervals obtained by methods that do not use machine learning predictions.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2501_18577
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Prediction-Powered Inference with Imputed Covariates and Nonuniform Sampling
Kluger, Dan M.
Lu, Kerri
Zrnic, Tijana
Wang, Sherrie
Bates, Stephen
Methodology
Artificial Intelligence
Machine Learning
Machine learning models are increasingly used to produce predictions that serve as input data in subsequent statistical analyses. For example, computer vision predictions of economic and environmental indicators based on satellite imagery are used in downstream regressions; similarly, language models are widely used to approximate human ratings and opinions in social science research. However, failure to properly account for errors in the machine learning predictions renders standard statistical procedures invalid. Prior work uses what we call the Predict-Then-Debias estimator to give valid confidence intervals when machine learning algorithms impute missing variables, assuming a small complete sample from the population of interest. We expand the scope by introducing bootstrap confidence intervals that apply when the complete data is a nonuniform (i.e., weighted, stratified, or clustered) sample and to settings where an arbitrary subset of features is imputed. Importantly, the method can be applied to many settings without requiring additional calculations. We prove that these confidence intervals are valid under no assumptions on the quality of the machine learning model and are no wider than the intervals obtained by methods that do not use machine learning predictions.
title Prediction-Powered Inference with Imputed Covariates and Nonuniform Sampling
topic Methodology
Artificial Intelligence
Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.18577