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Parallel and Other Simulations in R Made Easy: An End-to-End Study

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  • Hofert, Marius
  • Mächler, Martin

Abstract

It is shown how to set up, conduct, and analyze large simulation studies with the new R package simsalapar (= simulations simplified and launched parallel). A simulation study typically starts with determining a collection of input variables and their values on which the study depends. Computations are desired for all combinations of these variables. If conducting these computations sequentially is too time-consuming, parallel computing can be applied over all combinations of select variables. The final result object of a simulation study is typically an array. From this array, summary statistics can be derived and presented in terms of flat contingency or LATEX tables or visualized in terms of matrix-like figures. The R package simsalapar provides several tools to achieve the above tasks. Warnings and errors are dealt with correctly, various seeding methods are available, and run time is measured. Furthermore, tools for analyzing the results via tables or graphics are provided. In contrast to rather minimal examples typically found in R packages or vignettes, an end-to-end, not-so-minimal simulation problem from the realm of quantitative risk management is given. The concepts presented and solutions provided by simsalapar may be of interest to students, researchers, and practitioners as a how-to for conducting realistic, large-scale simulation studies in R.

Suggested Citation

  • Hofert, Marius & Mächler, Martin, 2016. "Parallel and Other Simulations in R Made Easy: An End-to-End Study," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 69(i04).
    • Handle: RePEc:jss:jstsof:v:069:i04
    DOI: http://hdl.handle.net/10.18637/jss.v069.i04
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gneiting, Tilmann, 2011. "Making and Evaluating Point Forecasts," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 106(494), pages 746-762.
    2. Kane, Michael & Emerson, John W. & Weston, Stephen, 2013. "Scalable Strategies for Computing with Massive Data," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 55(i14).
    3. Alfons, Andreas & Templ, Matthias & Filzmoser, Peter, 2010. "An Object-Oriented Framework for Statistical Simulation: The R Package simFrame," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 37(i03).
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    Cited by:

    1. Janine Balter & Alexander J. McNeil, 2024. "Multivariate Spectral Backtests of Forecast Distributions under Unknown Dependencies," Risks, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-15, January.
    2. Vo, Thanh Huan & Chauvet, Guillaume & Happe, André & Oger, Emmanuel & Paquelet, Stéphane & Garès, Valérie, 2023. "Extending the Fellegi-Sunter record linkage model for mixed-type data with application to the French national health data system," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    3. Côté, Marie-Pier & Genest, Christian & Omelka, Marek, 2019. "Rank-based inference tools for copula regression, with property and casualty insurance applications," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 1-15.

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