[R-sig-ME] Is anyone using the lmList() function in the lme4 package?

[Kevin E. Thorpe]

Douglas Bates wrote:
> When we wrote the nlme package we tried to be very careful about
> starting estimates and created the lmList function to allow evaluation
> of coefficients from within-group linear fits.  It turns out that it
> is most useful for longitudinal data where there are enough
> observations on each subject to do within-subject fits; that is, for
> data like the sleepstudy data.  Subsequent developments have made it
> easy enough to fit the mixed model reliably without needing a lot of
> preliminary work to get starting estimates.  (Similarly, the
> groupedData class was a good idea at the time but no longer
> necessary.)
> 
> Would anyone miss the lmList function if it was removed from future
> versions of lme4?

Speaking as one is relatively new to mixed models and not altogether
comfortable with them at times, I have found it useful to understand
my data.  With some data I was having trouble with (estimated
correlations of 1) it was very handy for producing caterpiller plots
to see how slope and intercept were related.

Of course, if I'm the only one who feels this way, my amount of usage
is not nearly sufficient to demand you keep lmList. :-)


-- 
Kevin E. Thorpe
Biostatistician/Trialist, Knowledge Translation Program
Assistant Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health
University of Toronto
email: kevin.thorpe at utoronto.ca  Tel: 416.864.5776  Fax: 416.864.3016