Abstract
Clustered data, either as an explicit part of the study design or due to the natural distribution of habitats, populations, and so on, are frequently encountered by biologists. Mixed effect models provide a framework that can handle clustered data by estimating cluster-specific random effects and introducing correlated residual structures. General parametric models have been shown not to suit all biological problems, resulting in an increased popularity for local regression procedures, such as LOESS and splines. To evaluate similar biological problems for clustered data with cluster-specific random effects and potential dependencies between within-cluster residuals, we suggest a local linear mixed model (LLMM). The LLMM approach is a local version of a linear mixed-effect model (LME), and the LLMM approach produces: (1) local shared predictions, (2) local cluster-specific predictions, and (3) estimates of cluster-specific random effects conditioned on the covariates. Thus, in addition to the local estimates of the expected response, we obtain information about how the cluster-specific random variability depends on the values of the covariate. Ovary data are used to illustrate the flexibility and potential of this procedure in biological contexts.
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Heegaard, E., Nilsen, T. & Nilsen, T. Local linear mixed effect models—Model specification and interpretation in a biological context. JABES 12, 414–430 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1198/108571107X228134
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1198/108571107X228134