[R] why change days of the week from a factor to an ordered factor?

Bert Gunter gunter.berton at gene.com
Mon Dec 2 16:35:33 CET 2013


Not true, Rich.

> z <-factor(letters[1:3],lev=letters[3:1])
> sort(z)
[1] c b a
Levels: c b a

What you say is true only for the **default** sort order.

(Although maybe the code author didn't realize this either)

-- Bert


On Mon, Dec 2, 2013 at 7:24 AM, Richard M. Heiberger <rmh at temple.edu> wrote:
> If days of the week is not an Ordered Factor, then it will be sorted
> alphabetically.
> Fr Mo Sa Su Th Tu We
>
> Rich
>
> On Mon, Dec 2, 2013 at 6:24 AM, Bill <william108 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I am reading the code below. It acts on a csv file called dodgers.csv with
>> the following variables.
>>
>>
>>> print(str(dodgers))  # check the structure of the data frame
>> 'data.frame':   81 obs. of  12 variables:
>>  $ month      : Factor w/ 7 levels "APR","AUG","JUL",..: 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
>> 1 ...
>>  $ day        : int  10 11 12 13 14 15 23 24 25 27 ...
>>  $ attend     : int  56000 29729 28328 31601 46549 38359 26376 44014 26345
>> 44807 ...
>>  $ day_of_week: Factor w/ 7 levels "Friday","Monday",..: 6 7 5 1 3 4 2 6 7
>> 1 ...
>>  $ opponent   : Factor w/ 17 levels "Angels","Astros",..: 13 13 13 11 11 11
>> 3 3 3 10 ...
>>  $ temp       : int  67 58 57 54 57 65 60 63 64 66 ...
>>  $ skies      : Factor w/ 2 levels "Clear ","Cloudy": 1 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 1
>> ...
>>  $ day_night  : Factor w/ 2 levels "Day","Night": 1 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 ...
>>  $ cap        : Factor w/ 2 levels "NO","YES": 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ...
>>  $ shirt      : Factor w/ 2 levels "NO","YES": 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ...
>>  $ fireworks  : Factor w/ 2 levels "NO","YES": 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 ...
>>  $ bobblehead : Factor w/ 2 levels "NO","YES": 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ...
>> NULL
>>>
>>
>> I don't understand why the author of the code decided to make the factor
>> days_of_week into an ordered factor. Anyone know why this should be done?
>> Thank you.
>>
>> Here is the code:
>>
>> # Predictive Model for Los Angeles Dodgers Promotion and Attendance
>>
>> library(car)  # special functions for linear regression
>> library(lattice)  # graphics package
>>
>> # read in data and create a data frame called dodgers
>> dodgers <- read.csv("dodgers.csv")
>> print(str(dodgers))  # check the structure of the data frame
>>
>> # define an ordered day-of-week variable
>> # for plots and data summaries
>> dodgers$ordered_day_of_week <- with(data=dodgers,
>>   ifelse ((day_of_week == "Monday"),1,
>>   ifelse ((day_of_week == "Tuesday"),2,
>>   ifelse ((day_of_week == "Wednesday"),3,
>>   ifelse ((day_of_week == "Thursday"),4,
>>   ifelse ((day_of_week == "Friday"),5,
>>   ifelse ((day_of_week == "Saturday"),6,7)))))))
>> dodgers$ordered_day_of_week <- factor(dodgers$ordered_day_of_week,
>> levels=1:7,
>> labels=c("Mon", "Tue", "Wed", "Thur", "Fri", "Sat", "Sun"))
>>
>> # exploratory data analysis with standard graphics: attendance by day of
>> week
>> with(data=dodgers,plot(ordered_day_of_week, attend/1000,
>> xlab = "Day of Week", ylab = "Attendance (thousands)",
>> col = "violet", las = 1))
>>
>> # when do the Dodgers use bobblehead promotions
>> with(dodgers, table(bobblehead,ordered_day_of_week)) # bobbleheads on
>> Tuesday
>>
>> # define an ordered month variable
>> # for plots and data summaries
>> dodgers$ordered_month <- with(data=dodgers,
>>   ifelse ((month == "APR"),4,
>>   ifelse ((month == "MAY"),5,
>>   ifelse ((month == "JUN"),6,
>>   ifelse ((month == "JUL"),7,
>>   ifelse ((month == "AUG"),8,
>>   ifelse ((month == "SEP"),9,10)))))))
>> dodgers$ordered_month <- factor(dodgers$ordered_month, levels=4:10,
>> labels = c("April", "May", "June", "July", "Aug", "Sept", "Oct"))
>>
>> # exploratory data analysis with standard R graphics: attendance by month
>> with(data=dodgers,plot(ordered_month,attend/1000, xlab = "Month",
>> ylab = "Attendance (thousands)", col = "light blue", las = 1))
>>
>> # exploratory data analysis displaying many variables
>> # looking at attendance and conditioning on day/night
>> # the skies and whether or not fireworks are displayed
>> library(lattice) # used for plotting
>> # let us prepare a graphical summary of the dodgers data
>> group.labels <- c("No Fireworks","Fireworks")
>> group.symbols <- c(21,24)
>> group.colors <- c("black","black")
>> group.fill <- c("black","red")
>> xyplot(attend/1000 ~ temp | skies + day_night,
>>     data = dodgers, groups = fireworks, pch = group.symbols,
>>     aspect = 1, cex = 1.5, col = group.colors, fill = group.fill,
>>     layout = c(2, 2), type = c("p","g"),
>>     strip=strip.custom(strip.levels=TRUE,strip.names=FALSE, style=1),
>>     xlab = "Temperature (Degrees Fahrenheit)",
>>     ylab = "Attendance (thousands)",
>>     key = list(space = "top",
>>         text = list(rev(group.labels),col = rev(group.colors)),
>>         points = list(pch = rev(group.symbols), col = rev(group.colors),
>>         fill = rev(group.fill))))
>>
>> # attendance by opponent and day/night game
>> group.labels <- c("Day","Night")
>> group.symbols <- c(1,20)
>> group.symbols.size <- c(2,2.75)
>> bwplot(opponent ~ attend/1000, data = dodgers, groups = day_night,
>>     xlab = "Attendance (thousands)",
>>     panel = function(x, y, groups, subscripts, ...)
>>        {panel.grid(h = (length(levels(dodgers$opponent)) - 1), v = -1)
>>         panel.stripplot(x, y, groups = groups, subscripts = subscripts,
>>         cex = group.symbols.size, pch = group.symbols, col = "darkblue")
>>        },
>>     key = list(space = "top",
>>     text = list(group.labels,col = "black"),
>>     points = list(pch = group.symbols, cex = group.symbols.size,
>>     col = "darkblue")))
>>
>> # specify a simple model with bobblehead entered last
>> my.model <- {attend ~ ordered_month + ordered_day_of_week + bobblehead}
>>
>> # employ a training-and-test regimen
>> set.seed(1234) # set seed for repeatability of training-and-test split
>> training_test <- c(rep(1,length=trunc((2/3)*nrow(dodgers))),
>> rep(2,length=(nrow(dodgers) - trunc((2/3)*nrow(dodgers)))))
>> dodgers$training_test <- sample(training_test) # random permutation
>> dodgers$training_test <- factor(dodgers$training_test,
>>   levels=c(1,2), labels=c("TRAIN","TEST"))
>> dodgers.train <- subset(dodgers, training_test == "TRAIN")
>> print(str(dodgers.train)) # check training data frame
>> dodgers.test <- subset(dodgers, training_test == "TEST")
>> print(str(dodgers.test)) # check test data frame
>>
>> # fit the model to the training set
>> train.model.fit <- lm(my.model, data = dodgers.train)
>> # obtain predictions from the training set
>> dodgers.train$predict_attend <- predict(train.model.fit)
>>
>> # evaluate the fitted model on the test set
>> dodgers.test$predict_attend <- predict(train.model.fit,
>>   newdata = dodgers.test)
>>
>> # compute the proportion of response variance
>> # accounted for when predicting out-of-sample
>> cat("\n","Proportion of Test Set Variance Accounted for: ",
>> round((with(dodgers.test,cor(attend,predict_attend)^2)),
>>   digits=3),"\n",sep="")
>>
>> # merge the training and test sets for plotting
>> dodgers.plotting.frame <- rbind(dodgers.train,dodgers.test)
>>
>> # generate predictive modeling visual for management
>> group.labels <- c("No Bobbleheads","Bobbleheads")
>> group.symbols <- c(21,24)
>> group.colors <- c("black","black")
>> group.fill <- c("black","red")
>> xyplot(predict_attend/1000 ~ attend/1000 | training_test,
>>        data = dodgers.plotting.frame, groups = bobblehead, cex = 2,
>>        pch = group.symbols, col = group.colors, fill = group.fill,
>>        layout = c(2, 1), xlim = c(20,65), ylim = c(20,65),
>>        aspect=1, type = c("p","g"),
>>        panel=function(x,y, ...)
>>             {panel.xyplot(x,y,...)
>>              panel.segments(25,25,60,60,col="black",cex=2)
>>             },
>>        strip=function(...) strip.default(..., style=1),
>>        xlab = "Actual Attendance (thousands)",
>>        ylab = "Predicted Attendance (thousands)",
>>        key = list(space = "top",
>>               text = list(rev(group.labels),col = rev(group.colors)),
>>               points = list(pch = rev(group.symbols),
>>               col = rev(group.colors),
>>               fill = rev(group.fill))))
>>
>> # use the full data set to obtain an estimate of the increase in
>> # attendance due to bobbleheads, controlling for other factors
>> my.model.fit <- lm(my.model, data = dodgers)  # use all available data
>> print(summary(my.model.fit))
>> # tests statistical significance of the bobblehead promotion
>> # type I anova computes sums of squares for sequential tests
>> print(anova(my.model.fit))
>>
>> cat("\n","Estimated Effect of Bobblehead Promotion on Attendance: ",
>> round(my.model.fit$coefficients[length(my.model.fit$coefficients)],
>> digits = 0),"\n",sep="")
>>
>> # standard graphics provide diagnostic plots
>> plot(my.model.fit)
>>
>> # additional model diagnostics drawn from the car package
>> library(car)
>> residualPlots(my.model.fit)
>> marginalModelPlots(my.model.fit)
>> print(outlierTest(my.model.fit))
>>
>>         [[alternative HTML version deleted]]
>>
>> ______________________________________________
>> R-help at r-project.org mailing list
>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help
>> PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html
>> and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.
>
> ______________________________________________
> R-help at r-project.org mailing list
> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help
> PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html
> and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.



-- 

Bert Gunter
Genentech Nonclinical Biostatistics

(650) 467-7374



More information about the R-help mailing list