Correlated data arise in numerous contexts across a wide spectrum of subject-matter disciplines. Modeling such data present special challenges and opportunities that have received increasing scrutiny by the statistical community in recent years. In October 1996 a group of 210 statisticians and other scientists assembled on the small island of Nantucket, U. S. A. , to present and discuss new developments relating to Modelling Longitudinal and Spatially Correlated Data: Methods, Applications, and Future Direc tions. Its purpose was to provide a cross-disciplinary forum to explore the commonalities and meaningful differences in the source and treatment of such data. This volume is a compilation of some of the important invited and volunteered presentations made during that conference. The three days and evenings of oral and displayed presentations were arranged into six broad thematic areas. The session themes, the invited speakers and the topics they addressed were as follows: • Generalized Linear Models: Peter McCullagh-"Residual Likelihood in Linear and Generalized Linear Models" • Longitudinal Data Analysis: Nan Laird-"Using the General Linear Mixed Model to Analyze Unbalanced Repeated Measures and Longi tudinal Data" • Spatio---Temporal Processes: David R. Brillinger-"Statistical Analy sis of the Tracks of Moving Particles" • Spatial Data Analysis: Noel A. Cressie-"Statistical Models for Lat tice Data" • Modelling Messy Data: Raymond J. Carroll-"Some Results on Gen eralized Linear Mixed Models with Measurement Error in Covariates" • Future Directions: Peter J.

The book features many figures and tables illustrating longitudinal data and numerous homework problems. The associated web site contains many longitudinal data sets, examples of computer code, and labs to re-enforce the material. Weiss emphasizes continuous data rather than discrete data, graphical and covariance methods, and generalizations of regression rather than generalizations of analysis of variance.

The First Book Dedicated to This Class of Longitudinal Models Although antedependence models are particularly useful for modeling longitudinal data that exhibit serial correlation, few books adequately cover these models. By gathering results scattered throughout the literature, Antedependence Models for Longitudinal Data offers a convenient, systematic way to learn about antedependence models. Illustrated with numerous examples, the book also covers some important statistical inference procedures associated with these models. After describing unstructured and structured antedependence models and their properties, the authors discuss informal model identification via simple summary statistics and graphical methods. They then present formal likelihood-based procedures for normal antedependence models, including maximum likelihood and residual maximum likelihood estimation of parameters as well as likelihood ratio tests and penalized likelihood model selection criteria for the model’s covariance structure and mean structure. The authors also compare the performance of antedependence models to other models commonly used for longitudinal data. With this book, readers no longer have to search across widely scattered journal articles on the subject. The book provides a thorough treatment of the properties and statistical inference procedures of various antedependence models.

Spatial Regression Models illustrates the use of spatial analysis in the social sciences within a regression framework and is accessible to readers with no prior background in spatial analysis. The text covers different modeling-related topics for continuous dependent variables, including mapping data on spatial units, creating data from maps, analyzing exploratory spatial data, working with regression models that have spatially dependent regressors, and estimating regression models with spatially correlated error structures. Using social science examples based on real data, the authors illustrate the concepts discussed, and show how to obtain and interpret relevant results. The examples are presented along with the relevant code to replicate all the analysis using the R package for statistical computing. Users can download both the data and computer code to work through all the examples found in the text. New to the Second Edition is a chapter on mapping as data exploration and its role in the research process, updates to all chapters based on substantive and methodological work, as well as software updates, and information on estimation of time-series, cross-sectional spatial models.