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saeproj.multilevel

Author

Nazlya Rahma Susanto, Azka Ubaidillah

Maintainer

Nazlya Rahma Susanto susantonazlya@gmail.com

Description

The saeproj.multilevel package provides tools for Small Area Estimation (SAE) using a projection estimator with a multilevel regression model.

The method is designed for two-survey settings:

a smaller model survey, data_model, that contains the response variable and auxiliary predictors;
a larger projection survey, data_proj, that contains auxiliary predictors and survey design information, but does not contain the response variable.

The main function is:

sae_ml_linear()

The function fits a linear multilevel regression model using lme4::lmer(), generates unit-level predictions for the projection dataset, aggregates those predictions by domain using survey design information, and applies a design-based residual correction.

The final projection estimator is:

estimate_final = estimate_synthetic + correction

The plug-in variance is calculated as:

variance_final = variance_synthetic + variance_correction

The synthetic projection component and residual correction component are stored in:

result$estimation_details

Installation

The development version of saeproj.multilevel can be installed from GitHub with:

# install.packages("devtools")
devtools::install_github("rahmanazlya02/saeproj.multilevel")

To install the package together with the vignette, use:

# install.packages("devtools")
devtools::install_github(
  "rahmanazlya02/saeproj.multilevel",
  build_vignettes = TRUE,
  dependencies = TRUE
)

After installation, the vignette can be opened with:

browseVignettes("saeproj.multilevel")

Or directly:

vignette(
  "sae_ml_linear",
  package = "saeproj.multilevel"
)

Dependencies

The package imports:

lme4 — for fitting linear multilevel regression models;
survey — for survey design and domain-level aggregation;
dplyr — for joining estimation components;
cli — for errors and selected warnings;
reformulas — for parsing multilevel model formulas.

Package datasets

The package includes two simulated datasets generated from one fixed replication of the study-simulation design.

data("saeml_modelsvy")
data("saeml_projsvy")

`saeml_modelsvy`

saeml_modelsvy is a small model-survey dataset containing:

250 observations;
50 domains identified by kab_kota;
5 sampled units in each domain;
the target variable Y;
unit-level auxiliary variables X1, X2, X3, and X4;
area-level auxiliary variables Z1 and Z2;
the survey weight variable WEIND;
no separate PSU or cluster variable.

`saeml_projsvy`

saeml_projsvy is a large projection-survey dataset containing:

15,000 observations;
50 domains identified by kab_kota;
300 sampled units in each domain;
unit-level auxiliary variables X1, X2, X3, and X4;
area-level auxiliary variables Z1 and Z2;
the survey weight variable WEIND;
no target variable Y;
no separate PSU or cluster variable.

The two datasets are drawn from the same simulated population and do not contain overlapping sampled units.

dim(saeml_modelsvy)
#> [1] 250  11

dim(saeml_projsvy)
#> [1] 15000    10

Example

Fit the multilevel projection estimator

result <- sae_ml_linear(
  formula = Y ~ X1 + X2 + X3 + X4 + Z1 + Z2 + (1 | kab_kota),
  data_model = saeml_modelsvy,
  data_proj = saeml_projsvy,
  domain = "kab_kota",
  cluster_ids = ~1,
  weight = "WEIND",
  strata = "kab_kota",
  summary_function = "mean"
)

result
#> SAE Projection Estimator using Linear Multilevel Model
#> -------------------------------------------------------
#> Formula   : Y ~ X1 + X2 + X3 + X4 + Z1 + Z2 + (1 | kab_kota) 
#> Estimator : bias_corrected 
#> Domains   : 50 
#> 
#> Estimates:
#>  kab_kota  estimate variance       se       rse
#>         1  63.63811 28.51940 5.340356  8.391758
#>         2 123.57033 22.92302 4.787799  3.874554
#>         3  72.21099 24.03748 4.902803  6.789553
#>         4  89.15406 25.01544 5.001543  5.610001
#>         5 160.68935 12.41104 3.522931  2.192386
#>         6  27.48805 28.16499 5.307070 19.306825

The package datasets do not contain a separate PSU or cluster variable. Therefore, the example uses:

cluster_ids = ~1

This specifies an unclustered survey-design structure. The variable id_individu is only a unique sampled-unit identifier and is not used as a PSU or cluster identifier.

Domain-level estimates

The final domain-level estimates are stored in:

result$estimates

The complete results for all 50 domains are shown below.

result$estimates
#>    kab_kota  estimate  variance       se       rse
#> 1         1  63.63811 28.519405 5.340356  8.391758
#> 2         2 123.57033 22.923017 4.787799  3.874554
#> 3         3  72.21099 24.037478 4.902803  6.789553
#> 4         4  89.15406 25.015436 5.001543  5.610001
#> 5         5 160.68935 12.411044 3.522931  2.192386
#> 6         6  27.48805 28.164991 5.307070 19.306825
#> 7         7 118.01107 21.596657 4.647220  3.937953
#> 8         8 154.32727 20.918597 4.573685  2.963627
#> 9         9  66.40287 19.156260 4.376787  6.591261
#> 10       10  89.89285 26.197321 5.118332  5.693814
#> 11       11  93.40441 18.723591 4.327077  4.632625
#> 12       12  67.82925 10.371817 3.220531  4.747996
#> 13       13  86.94722 26.877987 5.184398  5.962696
#> 14       14  83.26791 24.559496 4.955754  5.951577
#> 15       15 104.31824 28.927284 5.378409  5.155771
#> 16       16  66.99395 14.566786 3.816646  5.697001
#> 17       17 138.20477 44.228946 6.650485  4.812051
#> 18       18 146.17343 12.079225 3.475518  2.377667
#> 19       19  69.20977 30.322787 5.506613  7.956411
#> 20       20 126.71531 21.429139 4.629162  3.653198
#> 21       21  91.89536  8.232509 2.869235  3.122285
#> 22       22 112.26391 35.805903 5.983803  5.330122
#> 23       23  38.37135 13.554550 3.681650  9.594791
#> 24       24  54.02795 28.115349 5.302391  9.814163
#> 25       25 146.38489 41.543110 6.445395  4.403046
#> 26       26 119.26013 19.467277 4.412174  3.699622
#> 27       27 122.18386 30.941331 5.562493  4.552560
#> 28       28 114.81818 30.886520 5.557564  4.840317
#> 29       29 140.21555 27.966702 5.288355  3.771590
#> 30       30 114.57995 22.802072 4.775151  4.167528
#> 31       31  91.52510 43.345164 6.583704  7.193332
#> 32       32 102.80384 26.687399 5.165985  5.025090
#> 33       33 117.15727  9.750002 3.122499  2.665220
#> 34       34  81.85505 20.017747 4.474120  5.465906
#> 35       35  81.37672  9.574114 3.094207  3.802324
#> 36       36 121.88129  7.630933 2.762414  2.266479
#> 37       37  66.20806 43.124893 6.566955  9.918664
#> 38       38  90.88219 28.563450 5.344478  5.880666
#> 39       39  87.61008 17.579341 4.192772  4.785719
#> 40       40 149.73935 36.185367 6.015427  4.017266
#> 41       41 108.77503 12.750292 3.570755  3.282697
#> 42       42 154.02090 22.883156 4.783634  3.105834
#> 43       43 106.91171  9.739403 3.120802  2.919046
#> 44       44 142.66619 18.383221 4.287566  3.005313
#> 45       45 125.47587 52.515914 7.246786  5.775442
#> 46       46  94.25971 17.091366 4.134171  4.385936
#> 47       47 134.25627 36.781517 6.064777  4.517314
#> 48       48 116.44011 37.351694 6.111603  5.248710
#> 49       49  80.50337 24.459513 4.945656  6.143415
#> 50       50 133.66421 17.656474 4.201961  3.143669

The output contains:

Column	Description
domain variable(s)	Domain identifier column(s), based on the `domain` argument
`estimate`	Final projection estimate with design-based residual correction
`variance`	Plug-in variance of the final estimate
`se`	Standard error, computed as `sqrt(variance)`
`rse`	Relative standard error in percent

The same result can be extracted for further analysis with:

as.data.frame(result)

Estimation components

Detailed estimation components are stored in:

result$estimation_details

The complete synthetic estimate, residual correction, final estimate, variance, and sample-size information for all 50 domains are shown below.

result$estimation_details
#>    kab_kota estimate_synthetic variance_synthetic   correction
#> 1         1           64.51902           6.651059 -0.880903021
#> 2         2          123.47261           6.399579  0.097720077
#> 3         3           72.45427           5.914642 -0.243283358
#> 4         4           89.31018           6.307633 -0.156121828
#> 5         5          159.60585           6.707629  1.083499650
#> 6         6           29.12853           5.924376 -1.640481978
#> 7         7          117.95382           6.655086  0.057244068
#> 8         8          153.70964           5.881752  0.617629498
#> 9         9           67.29964           6.336749 -0.896767634
#> 10       10           90.47768           6.723465 -0.584833009
#> 11       11           93.35554           5.523737  0.048871257
#> 12       12           68.38506           5.808774 -0.555804610
#> 13       13           86.95638           5.906556 -0.009161651
#> 14       14           83.46482           6.117049 -0.196910212
#> 15       15          104.05296           5.361198  0.265282500
#> 16       16           68.09623           6.211223 -1.102279167
#> 17       17          137.62282           6.025534  0.581955378
#> 18       18          145.28490           5.861022  0.888529509
#> 19       19           69.77688           6.319282 -0.567113232
#> 20       20          126.46963           5.735366  0.245679453
#> 21       21           92.32333           5.985796 -0.427971400
#> 22       22          111.93106           6.367506  0.332843695
#> 23       23           39.62914           6.675530 -1.257790218
#> 24       24           54.97937           6.246625 -0.951418482
#> 25       25          145.57317           5.810129  0.811718138
#> 26       26          118.73939           5.431806  0.520735814
#> 27       27          121.93888           5.632564  0.244978471
#> 28       28          114.92443           5.067101 -0.106249134
#> 29       29          139.62463           6.424310  0.590921202
#> 30       30          114.38188           5.972599  0.198068985
#> 31       31           91.24777           5.591878  0.277322035
#> 32       32          102.51121           5.524387  0.292626541
#> 33       33          116.89962           6.666377  0.257653811
#> 34       34           82.00056           6.491236 -0.145510938
#> 35       35           82.03037           5.283640 -0.653657212
#> 36       36          121.87937           5.405497  0.001919269
#> 37       37           66.79017           6.181848 -0.582110617
#> 38       38           91.12162           5.891640 -0.239429982
#> 39       39           87.72478           6.084069 -0.114693188
#> 40       40          149.04234           5.802844  0.697014744
#> 41       41          108.43554           6.201553  0.339490042
#> 42       42          152.87854           5.714695  1.142356288
#> 43       43          107.17430           5.709964 -0.262587216
#> 44       44          141.97962           5.618465  0.686567860
#> 45       45          125.08834           7.204382  0.387531328
#> 46       46           94.20918           5.228550  0.050531652
#> 47       47          134.03805           6.232447  0.218213781
#> 48       48          116.21694           5.058848  0.223165144
#> 49       49           80.82393           5.787536 -0.320562289
#> 50       50          132.92864           7.120847  0.735570186
#>    variance_correction estimate_final variance_final se_final rse_final n_model
#> 1            21.868346       63.63811      28.519405 5.340356  8.391758       5
#> 2            16.523438      123.57033      22.923017 4.787799  3.874554       5
#> 3            18.122836       72.21099      24.037478 4.902803  6.789553       5
#> 4            18.707803       89.15406      25.015436 5.001543  5.610001       5
#> 5             5.703415      160.68935      12.411044 3.522931  2.192386       5
#> 6            22.240615       27.48805      28.164991 5.307070 19.306825       5
#> 7            14.941571      118.01107      21.596657 4.647220  3.937953       5
#> 8            15.036845      154.32727      20.918597 4.573685  2.963627       5
#> 9            12.819511       66.40287      19.156260 4.376787  6.591261       5
#> 10           19.473856       89.89285      26.197321 5.118332  5.693814       5
#> 11           13.199854       93.40441      18.723591 4.327077  4.632625       5
#> 12            4.563044       67.82925      10.371817 3.220531  4.747996       5
#> 13           20.971432       86.94722      26.877987 5.184398  5.962696       5
#> 14           18.442446       83.26791      24.559496 4.955754  5.951577       5
#> 15           23.566086      104.31824      28.927284 5.378409  5.155771       5
#> 16            8.355563       66.99395      14.566786 3.816646  5.697001       5
#> 17           38.203412      138.20477      44.228946 6.650485  4.812051       5
#> 18            6.218204      146.17343      12.079225 3.475518  2.377667       5
#> 19           24.003505       69.20977      30.322787 5.506613  7.956411       5
#> 20           15.693773      126.71531      21.429139 4.629162  3.653198       5
#> 21            2.246713       91.89536       8.232509 2.869235  3.122285       5
#> 22           29.438396      112.26391      35.805903 5.983803  5.330122       5
#> 23            6.879021       38.37135      13.554550 3.681650  9.594791       5
#> 24           21.868725       54.02795      28.115349 5.302391  9.814163       5
#> 25           35.732982      146.38489      41.543110 6.445395  4.403046       5
#> 26           14.035471      119.26013      19.467277 4.412174  3.699622       5
#> 27           25.308766      122.18386      30.941331 5.562493  4.552560       5
#> 28           25.819418      114.81818      30.886520 5.557564  4.840317       5
#> 29           21.542393      140.21555      27.966702 5.288355  3.771590       5
#> 30           16.829473      114.57995      22.802072 4.775151  4.167528       5
#> 31           37.753286       91.52510      43.345164 6.583704  7.193332       5
#> 32           21.163012      102.80384      26.687399 5.165985  5.025090       5
#> 33            3.083625      117.15727       9.750002 3.122499  2.665220       5
#> 34           13.526511       81.85505      20.017747 4.474120  5.465906       5
#> 35            4.290474       81.37672       9.574114 3.094207  3.802324       5
#> 36            2.225436      121.88129       7.630933 2.762414  2.266479       5
#> 37           36.943044       66.20806      43.124893 6.566955  9.918664       5
#> 38           22.671810       90.88219      28.563450 5.344478  5.880666       5
#> 39           11.495273       87.61008      17.579341 4.192772  4.785719       5
#> 40           30.382523      149.73935      36.185367 6.015427  4.017266       5
#> 41            6.548739      108.77503      12.750292 3.570755  3.282697       5
#> 42           17.168461      154.02090      22.883156 4.783634  3.105834       5
#> 43            4.029439      106.91171       9.739403 3.120802  2.919046       5
#> 44           12.764755      142.66619      18.383221 4.287566  3.005313       5
#> 45           45.311531      125.47587      52.515914 7.246786  5.775442       5
#> 46           11.862816       94.25971      17.091366 4.134171  4.385936       5
#> 47           30.549069      134.25627      36.781517 6.064777  4.517314       5
#> 48           32.292847      116.44011      37.351694 6.111603  5.248710       5
#> 49           18.671977       80.50337      24.459513 4.945656  6.143415       5
#> 50           10.535627      133.66421      17.656474 4.201961  3.143669       5
#>    n_proj
#> 1     300
#> 2     300
#> 3     300
#> 4     300
#> 5     300
#> 6     300
#> 7     300
#> 8     300
#> 9     300
#> 10    300
#> 11    300
#> 12    300
#> 13    300
#> 14    300
#> 15    300
#> 16    300
#> 17    300
#> 18    300
#> 19    300
#> 20    300
#> 21    300
#> 22    300
#> 23    300
#> 24    300
#> 25    300
#> 26    300
#> 27    300
#> 28    300
#> 29    300
#> 30    300
#> 31    300
#> 32    300
#> 33    300
#> 34    300
#> 35    300
#> 36    300
#> 37    300
#> 38    300
#> 39    300
#> 40    300
#> 41    300
#> 42    300
#> 43    300
#> 44    300
#> 45    300
#> 46    300
#> 47    300
#> 48    300
#> 49    300
#> 50    300

This table contains:

Column	Description
domain variable(s)	Domain identifier column(s)
`estimate_synthetic`	Synthetic projection estimate
`variance_synthetic`	Variance of the synthetic projection estimate
`correction`	Design-based residual correction
`variance_correction`	Variance of the residual correction
`estimate_final`	Final estimate, computed as `estimate_synthetic + correction`
`variance_final`	Final variance, computed as `variance_synthetic + variance_correction`
`se_final`	Standard error of the final estimate
`rse_final`	Relative standard error of the final estimate
`n_model`	Number of observations in the domain in `data_model`
`n_proj`	Number of observations in the domain in `data_proj`

Synthetic projection component

The function returns the projection estimator with a design-based residual correction by default.

The complete synthetic component for all 50 domains is available below.

result$estimation_details[, c(
  "kab_kota",
  "estimate_synthetic",
  "variance_synthetic"
)]
#>    kab_kota estimate_synthetic variance_synthetic
#> 1         1           64.51902           6.651059
#> 2         2          123.47261           6.399579
#> 3         3           72.45427           5.914642
#> 4         4           89.31018           6.307633
#> 5         5          159.60585           6.707629
#> 6         6           29.12853           5.924376
#> 7         7          117.95382           6.655086
#> 8         8          153.70964           5.881752
#> 9         9           67.29964           6.336749
#> 10       10           90.47768           6.723465
#> 11       11           93.35554           5.523737
#> 12       12           68.38506           5.808774
#> 13       13           86.95638           5.906556
#> 14       14           83.46482           6.117049
#> 15       15          104.05296           5.361198
#> 16       16           68.09623           6.211223
#> 17       17          137.62282           6.025534
#> 18       18          145.28490           5.861022
#> 19       19           69.77688           6.319282
#> 20       20          126.46963           5.735366
#> 21       21           92.32333           5.985796
#> 22       22          111.93106           6.367506
#> 23       23           39.62914           6.675530
#> 24       24           54.97937           6.246625
#> 25       25          145.57317           5.810129
#> 26       26          118.73939           5.431806
#> 27       27          121.93888           5.632564
#> 28       28          114.92443           5.067101
#> 29       29          139.62463           6.424310
#> 30       30          114.38188           5.972599
#> 31       31           91.24777           5.591878
#> 32       32          102.51121           5.524387
#> 33       33          116.89962           6.666377
#> 34       34           82.00056           6.491236
#> 35       35           82.03037           5.283640
#> 36       36          121.87937           5.405497
#> 37       37           66.79017           6.181848
#> 38       38           91.12162           5.891640
#> 39       39           87.72478           6.084069
#> 40       40          149.04234           5.802844
#> 41       41          108.43554           6.201553
#> 42       42          152.87854           5.714695
#> 43       43          107.17430           5.709964
#> 44       44          141.97962           5.618465
#> 45       45          125.08834           7.204382
#> 46       46           94.20918           5.228550
#> 47       47          134.03805           6.232447
#> 48       48          116.21694           5.058848
#> 49       49           80.82393           5.787536
#> 50       50          132.92864           7.120847

Direct estimator

Set return_direct = TRUE to return direct design-based estimates from data_model.

result_direct <- sae_ml_linear(
  formula = Y ~ X1 + X2 + X3 + X4 + Z1 + Z2 + (1 | kab_kota),
  data_model = saeml_modelsvy,
  data_proj = saeml_projsvy,
  domain = "kab_kota",
  cluster_ids = ~1,
  weight = "WEIND",
  strata = "kab_kota",
  summary_function = "mean",
  return_direct = TRUE
)

result_direct$direct_estimator

The direct estimator is stored separately and does not replace the projection estimator.

Print and summary

A concise output can be displayed with:

print(result)
#> SAE Projection Estimator using Linear Multilevel Model
#> -------------------------------------------------------
#> Formula   : Y ~ X1 + X2 + X3 + X4 + Z1 + Z2 + (1 | kab_kota) 
#> Estimator : bias_corrected 
#> Domains   : 50 
#> 
#> Estimates:
#>  kab_kota  estimate variance       se       rse
#>         1  63.63811 28.51940 5.340356  8.391758
#>         2 123.57033 22.92302 4.787799  3.874554
#>         3  72.21099 24.03748 4.902803  6.789553
#>         4  89.15406 25.01544 5.001543  5.610001
#>         5 160.68935 12.41104 3.522931  2.192386
#>         6  27.48805 28.16499 5.307070 19.306825

A compact summary can be displayed with:

summary(result)
#> SAE Projection Estimator using Linear Multilevel Model
#> -------------------------------------------------------
#> Formula   : Y ~ X1 + X2 + X3 + X4 + Z1 + Z2 + (1 | kab_kota) 
#> Estimator : bias_corrected 
#> Domains   : 50 
#> 
#> Model diagnostics:
#>   nobs        : 250 
#>   sigma       : 9.6444 
#>   ICC         : 0.9048 
#>   singular    : FALSE 
#>   convergence : OK 
#> 
#> Estimates:
#>  kab_kota  estimate variance       se       rse
#>         1  63.63811 28.51940 5.340356  8.391758
#>         2 123.57033 22.92302 4.787799  3.874554
#>         3  72.21099 24.03748 4.902803  6.789553
#>         4  89.15406 25.01544 5.001543  5.610001
#>         5 160.68935 12.41104 3.522931  2.192386
#>         6  27.48805 28.16499 5.307070 19.306825

The summary() method displays the formula, estimator type, number of domains, selected model diagnostics, and a preview of the final estimates.

Full model output can be accessed from the fitted lmerMod object:

fit <- result$fitted_model

summary(fit)
#> Linear mixed model fit by REML ['lmerMod']
#> Formula: Y ~ X1 + X2 + X3 + X4 + Z1 + Z2 + (1 | kab_kota)
#>    Data: data
#> Control: control
#> 
#> REML criterion at convergence: 2009.9
#> 
#> Scaled residuals: 
#>      Min       1Q   Median       3Q      Max 
#> -2.16963 -0.59140  0.04972  0.52613  2.44401 
#> 
#> Random effects:
#>  Groups   Name        Variance Std.Dev.
#>  kab_kota (Intercept) 884.17   29.735  
#>  Residual              93.01    9.644  
#> Number of obs: 250, groups:  kab_kota, 50
#> 
#> Fixed effects:
#>             Estimate Std. Error t value
#> (Intercept)  92.4309     4.4555  20.745
#> X1           25.1077     0.6709  37.422
#> X2           18.8027     1.3788  13.637
#> X3          -22.5309     0.6800 -33.133
#> X4           20.4876     0.5781  35.439
#> Z1           -9.6485     4.3391  -2.224
#> Z2           -6.1241     4.8901  -1.252
#> 
#> Correlation of Fixed Effects:
#>    (Intr) X1     X2     X3     X4     Z1    
#> X1 -0.003                                   
#> X2 -0.155 -0.023                            
#> X3 -0.019 -0.007  0.010                     
#> X4  0.005  0.003  0.051  0.109              
#> Z1  0.253 -0.018 -0.004 -0.007  0.006       
#> Z2 -0.054 -0.017  0.003 -0.012  0.024 -0.024

Retaining unit-level predictions

Set keep_unit = TRUE to store unit-level projection data and model residual data.

result_ku <- sae_ml_linear(
  formula = Y ~ X1 + X2 + X3 + X4 + Z1 + Z2 + (1 | kab_kota),
  data_model = saeml_modelsvy,
  data_proj = saeml_projsvy,
  domain = "kab_kota",
  cluster_ids = ~1,
  weight = "WEIND",
  strata = "kab_kota",
  summary_function = "mean",
  keep_unit = TRUE
)

head(result_ku$unit_projection)
head(result_ku$unit_model_residual)

When keep_unit = TRUE:

result_ku$unit_projection contains data_proj with the unit-level prediction column .prediction;
result_ku$unit_model_residual contains data_model with .fitted_model and .model_residual.

Model diagnostics

Model diagnostics are stored in:

result$diagnostics

data.frame(
  icc = result$diagnostics$icc,
  singular_fit = result$diagnostics$singular_fit,
  convergence = result$diagnostics$convergence,
  sigma = result$diagnostics$sigma,
  residual_variance = result$diagnostics$residual_variance,
  REML = result$diagnostics$REML,
  AIC = result$diagnostics$AIC,
  BIC = result$diagnostics$BIC
)
#>         icc singular_fit convergence    sigma residual_variance REML      AIC
#> 1 0.9048142        FALSE          OK 9.644356           93.0136 TRUE 2027.936
#>        BIC
#> 1 2059.629

The estimated random effects for all domain groups can be inspected directly:

lme4::ranef(result$fitted_model)$kab_kota
#>     (Intercept)
#> 1  -41.86827839
#> 2    4.64451965
#> 3  -11.56297019
#> 4   -7.42028578
#> 5   51.49745648
#> 6  -77.97016757
#> 7    2.72074285
#> 8   29.35519933
#> 9  -42.62230470
#> 10 -27.79642104
#> 11   2.32279301
#> 12 -26.41673557
#> 13  -0.43544244
#> 14  -9.35890943
#> 15  12.60856337
#> 16 -52.39002472
#> 17  27.65965064
#> 18  42.23075634
#> 19 -26.95422097
#> 20  11.67685373
#> 21 -20.34097431
#> 22  15.81966705
#> 23 -59.78128098
#> 24 -45.21979483
#> 25  38.58000279
#> 26  24.74995717
#> 27  11.64353691
#> 28  -5.04989563
#> 29  28.08578562
#> 30   9.41398453
#> 31  13.18078825
#> 32  13.90819327
#> 33  12.24598079
#> 34  -6.91596274
#> 35 -31.06755394
#> 36   0.09122059
#> 37 -27.66702893
#> 38 -11.37982376
#> 39  -5.45123152
#> 40  33.12828614
#> 41  16.13556004
#> 42  54.29484285
#> 43 -12.48045973
#> 44  32.63175812
#> 45  18.41890554
#> 46   2.40170965
#> 47  10.37144283
#> 48  10.60677527
#> 49 -15.23594635
#> 50  34.96078070

Residual diagnostics can be inspected from the fitted model:

fit <- result$fitted_model

plot(
  fitted(fit),
  resid(fit),
  xlab = "Fitted values",
  ylab = "Residuals",
  main = "Residuals vs Fitted"
)

abline(h = 0, lty = 2)

qqnorm(resid(fit))
qqline(resid(fit))

Model parameters

Estimated model parameters are stored in:

result$model_parameters

result$model_parameters$fixed_effects
#> (Intercept)          X1          X2          X3          X4          Z1 
#>   92.430911   25.107730   18.802686  -22.530931   20.487619   -9.648481 
#>          Z2 
#>   -6.124119

result$model_parameters$variance_components
#>        grp        var1 var2     vcov     sdcor
#> 1 kab_kota (Intercept) <NA> 884.1652 29.734916
#> 2 Residual        <NA> <NA>  93.0136  9.644356

result$model_parameters$residual_variance
#> [1] 93.0136

Notes

Run-specific notes are stored in:

result$notes
#> character(0)

The notes are intentionally concise and are not printed automatically by summary().

They may include information such as:

removed zero-variance predictors;
singular model fit;
convergence issues;
random-slope or complex random-effect structures where a simple ICC is not computed;
out-of-sample domains with zero residual correction;
negative plug-in variance clamped to zero.

Out-of-sample domains are not treated as warnings because they are expected in SAE projection. They are recorded in result$notes.

Multiple domain variables

The domain argument accepts a character scalar, a character vector, or a one-sided formula.

The following example uses both prov and kab_kota as domain identifiers.

result_multi <- sae_ml_linear(
  formula = Y ~ X1 + X2 + X3 + X4 + Z1 + Z2 + (1 | kab_kota),
  data_model = saeml_modelsvy,
  data_proj = saeml_projsvy,
  domain = c("prov", "kab_kota"),
  cluster_ids = ~1,
  weight = "WEIND",
  strata = "kab_kota",
  summary_function = "mean"
)

result_multi$estimates

Survey design specification

The arguments cluster_ids, weight, and strata are used in the aggregation step through survey::svydesign().

Simulated package data

The simulated datasets included in the package do not contain a separate PSU or cluster variable. Therefore, the package examples use:

cluster_ids = ~1
weight = "WEIND"
strata = "kab_kota"

Here, cluster_ids = ~1 specifies an unclustered survey-design structure.

Survey data with PSU clustering

For a real survey with a PSU or cluster variable, provide the actual PSU identifier in cluster_ids.

The following code is illustrative. Replace psu_id, survey_weight, and stratum with the corresponding variable names in your data.

result_clustered <- sae_ml_linear(
  formula = Y ~ X1 + X2 + X3 + X4 + Z1 + Z2 + (1 | kab_kota),
  data_model = data_model,
  data_proj = data_proj,
  domain = "kab_kota",
  cluster_ids = "psu_id",
  weight = "survey_weight",
  strata = "stratum",
  summary_function = "mean",
  nest = TRUE
)

In this specification:

psu_id identifies the primary sampling unit or cluster;
survey_weight identifies the sampling weight;
stratum identifies the sampling stratum;
nest = TRUE indicates that PSUs are nested within strata.

Use cluster_ids = ~1 when the survey design does not include a separate PSU or cluster variable.

Output object structure

sae_ml_linear() returns an S3 object of class "sae_ml_linear".

Typical components are:

Component	Description
`$call`	The matched function call
`$formula`	The model formula used after preprocessing
`$estimator`	Estimator type; currently always `"bias_corrected"`
`$fitted_model`	The fitted `lmerMod` object from `lme4::lmer()`
`$model_parameters`	Fixed effects, random effects, variance components, residual SD, and residual variance
`$estimates`	Final domain-level estimates
`$estimation_details`	Synthetic estimate, correction, final estimate, and sample sizes per domain
`$diagnostics`	Model diagnostics: ICC when applicable, random-effect structure, singular fit, convergence, sigma, residual variance, REML, logLik, AIC, and BIC
`$notes`	Concise run-specific notes
`$unit_projection`	Unit-level `data_proj` with `.prediction`, only if `keep_unit = TRUE`
`$unit_model_residual`	Unit-level `data_model` with `.fitted_model` and `.model_residual`, only if `keep_unit = TRUE`
`$direct_estimator`	Direct design-based estimates, only if `return_direct = TRUE`

S3 methods

Method	Behaviour
`print(result)`	Prints formula, estimator, number of domains, and a preview of `$estimates`
`summary(result)`	Prints selected diagnostics and a preview of final estimates
`as.data.frame(result)`	Returns `result$estimates`

Function interface

sae_ml_linear(
  formula,
  data_model,
  data_proj,
  domain,
  cluster_ids = ~1,
  weight = NULL,
  strata = NULL,
  summary_function = "mean",
  keep_unit = FALSE,
  seed = 1,
  control = lme4::lmerControl(
    optimizer = "bobyqa",
    optCtrl = list(maxfun = 2e5)
  ),
  return_direct = FALSE,
  ...
)

Argument	Description
`formula`	`lme4::lmer()`-style formula containing at least one random-effect term
`data_model`	Model survey data frame containing the response, predictors, grouping variables, domain variable(s), and survey design variables
`data_proj`	Projection survey data frame containing predictors, grouping variables, domain variable(s), and survey design variables; the response is not required
`domain`	Domain variable name(s): character scalar, character vector, or one-sided formula
`cluster_ids`	PSU or cluster variable for survey design; use `~1` for no clustering
`weight`	Survey weight variable; use `NULL` for equal weights
`strata`	Stratification variable; use `NULL` if not applicable
`summary_function`	Domain-level statistic: `"mean"` or `"total"`
`keep_unit`	If `TRUE`, unit-level predictions and residuals are stored in the output
`seed`	Integer seed used before model fitting
`control`	`lme4::lmerControl()` object passed to `lme4::lmer()`
`return_direct`	If `TRUE`, direct design-based estimates from `data_model` are returned
`...`	Additional named arguments passed to `survey::svydesign()`, for example `nest = TRUE`

The weight argument identifies the survey weight column used in both data_model and data_proj. The column name must be the same in both datasets, but the weight values may differ.

In data_model, weights are used for residual correction and optional direct estimation. In data_proj, weights are used for synthetic projection aggregation.

Methodological notes

The working model is a linear multilevel regression model fitted with lme4::lmer() using restricted maximum likelihood estimation.
The user fully specifies the fixed-effect and random-effect structure through the formula argument.
Prediction uses re.form = NULL and allow.new.levels = TRUE.
For grouping levels observed in data_model, predictions include the estimated random-effect contribution.
For grouping levels appearing only in data_proj, the random-effect contribution is set to zero, so prediction uses the fixed part of the model.
ICC is a diagnostic measure and does not determine the prediction rule.
A simple ICC is computed only for pure random-intercept structures.
Fixed-effect categorical predictors in data_proj must not contain levels that are absent from data_model.
Fixed-effect predictors with zero variance in data_model are removed automatically before model fitting.
Survey design arguments (cluster_ids, weight, and strata) are used in the aggregation step through survey::svydesign() and survey::svyby().
The plug-in variance is approximate and does not fully account for uncertainty in estimated multilevel model parameters.
Missing values are not removed automatically. The function stops with an informative error if required variables contain missing values.

Summary function

The argument summary_function supports "mean" and "total" because both are linear domain parameters.
For "mean", the synthetic component and residual correction are aggregated using survey::svymean.
For "total", both components are aggregated using survey::svytotal, so the estimate and variance are returned on the total scale.
The "total" option should only be used when survey weights are appropriate expansion weights for population totals.

References

Bates, D., Maechler, M., Bolker, B., & Walker, S. (2015). Fitting linear mixed-effects models using lme4. Journal of Statistical Software, 67(1), 1–48.

Finch, W. H., Bolin, J. E., & Kelley, K. (2014). Multilevel Modeling Using R. CRC Press.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2021). Guidelines on Data Disaggregation for SDG Indicators Using Survey Data (1st ed.). https://doi.org/10.4060/cb3253en

Hox, J. J., Moerbeek, M., & van de Schoot, R. (2018). Multilevel Analysis: Techniques and Applications (3rd ed.). Routledge.

Kim, J. K., & Rao, J. N. K. (2012). Combining data from two independent surveys: A model-assisted approach. Biometrika, 99(1), 85–100.

Moura, F. A. S., & Holt, D. (1999). Small area estimation using multilevel models. Survey Methodology, 25(1), 73–80.

Rao, J. N. K., & Molina, I. (2015). Small Area Estimation (2nd ed.). Wiley.

These binaries (installable software) and packages are in development.
They may not be fully stable and should be used with caution. We make no claims about them.