How To Evaluate Dependency Among Variables In R

Introduction

In this article I am going to demonstrate how to evaluate dependency between variables from datasets to verify which one of the following variables are dependent on other variables so that unnecessary variables can be removed for creating a best fit model in R. Using a combination of function aggregate with certain variables and datasets, we can select and evaluate dependencies between variables and evaluate dependencies between variables from a dataset to create a model in R. Using combination function, we can evaluate how a certain amount of change in one variable can affect another variable.

Evaluating the variables

In order to evaluate dependencies between multiple variables together to fit a model, we can use a combination function along with mathematical operators so as to evaluate dependencies between two or more variables together. For example, we can use colon operator inside aggregate function to evaluate how many variables are dependent on each other for the creation of best fit model. To create a model in R, we can use various mathematical operators to remove irrelevant variables.

We can define a formula along with arithmetic operators in lots of functions in R. One such functions is the aggregate() function using which we can remove different irrelevant variables to create a model.

Now I will demonstrate the use of cluster function to find dependencies between several variables together. We will be using gscars dataset to demonstrate the use of aggregate function.

> gscars
mg cyl disp hp drat wt qsec vs bn gr carb
Mazda RX4 21.0 6 160.0 110 3.90 2.620 16.46 0 1 4 4
Mazda RX4 Wag 21.0 6 160.0 110 3.90 2.875 17.02 0 1 4 4
Datsun 710 22.8 4 108.0 93 3.85 2.320 18.61 1 1 4 1
Hornet 4 Drive 21.4 6 258.0 110 3.08 3.215 19.44 1 0 3 1
Hornet Sportabout 18.7 8 360.0 175 3.15 3.440 17.02 0 0 3 2
Valiant 18.1 6 225.0 105 2.76 3.460 20.22 1 0 3 1
Duster 360 14.3 8 360.0 245 3.21 3.570 15.84 0 0 3 4
Merc 240D 24.4 4 146.7 62 3.69 3.190 20.00 1 0 4 2
Merc 230 22.8 4 140.8 95 3.92 3.150 22.90 1 0 4 2
Merc 280 19.2 6 167.6 123 3.92 3.440 18.30 1 0 4 4
Merc 280C 17.8 6 167.6 123 3.92 3.440 18.90 1 0 4 4
Merc 450SE 16.4 8 275.8 180 3.07 4.070 17.40 0 0 3 3
Merc 450SL 17.3 8 275.8 180 3.07 3.730 17.60 0 0 3 3
Merc 450SLC 15.2 8 275.8 180 3.07 3.780 18.00 0 0 3 3
Cadillac Fleetwood 10.4 8 472.0 205 2.93 5.250 17.98 0 0 3 4
Lincoln Continental 10.4 8 460.0 215 3.00 5.424 17.82 0 0 3 4
Chrysler Imperial 14.7 8 440.0 230 3.23 5.345 17.42 0 0 3 4
Fiat 128 32.4 4 78.7 66 4.08 2.200 19.47 1 1 4 1
Honda Civic 30.4 4 75.7 52 4.93 1.615 18.52 1 1 4 2
Toyota Corolla 33.9 4 71.1 65 4.22 1.835 19.90 1 1 4 1
Toyota Corona 21.5 4 120.1 97 3.70 2.465 20.01 1 0 3 1
Dodge Challenger 15.5 8 318.0 150 2.76 3.520 16.87 0 0 3 2
AMC Javelin 15.2 8 304.0 150 3.15 3.435 17.30 0 0 3 2
Camaro Z28 13.3 8 350.0 245 3.73 3.840 15.41 0 0 3 4
Pontiac Firebird 19.2 8 400.0 175 3.08 3.845 17.05 0 0 3 2
Fiat X1-9 27.3 4 79.0 66 4.08 1.935 18.90 1 1 4 1
Porsche 914-2 26.0 4 120.3 91 4.43 2.140 16.70 0 1 5 2
Lotus Europa 30.4 4 95.1 113 3.77 1.513 16.90 1 1 5 2
Ford Pantera L 15.8 8 351.0 264 4.22 3.170 14.50 0 1 5 4
Ferrari Dino 19.7 6 145.0 175 3.62 2.770 15.50 0 1 5 6
Maserati Bora 15.0 8 301.0 335 3.54 3.570 14.60 0 1 5 8
Volvo 142E 21.4 4 121.0 109 4.11 2.780 18.60 1 1 4 2
>

We will be using ~ operator inside aggregate function along with colon operator to find associativity among multiple variables in R. For example, if there are three variables named a, b and c, then a ~ b : c means that aggregate function will create a model a, after evaluating the dependency of variable b and c among each other.

> aggregate(mg ~ gr : bn, data = data, mean)
gr bn mg
1 4 0 14.10667
2 5 0 27.05000
3 5 1 24.27500
4 6 1 22.38000

In the above aggregate function, there are three arguments. The first argument in the formula indicates that aggregate function represents mg as a function of the model calculating the mean and the second argument is a variable depicting the dataset. Using the above code, aggregate function creates a model in which model is evaluating the dependency between the gr and bn variables to verify the dependency among these two variables.

> aggregate(mg ~ disp : hp, data = data, mean)
disp hp mg
1 75.7 52 30.4
2 146.7 62 24.4
3 71.1 65 33.9
4 78.7 66 32.4
5 79.0 66 27.3
6 120.3 91 26.0
7 108.0 93 22.8
8 140.8 95 22.8
9 120.1 97 21.5
10 225.0 105 18.1
11 121.0 109 21.4
12 160.0 110 21.0
13 258.0 110 21.4
14 95.1 113 30.4
15 167.6 123 18.5
16 304.0 150 15.2
17 318.0 150 15.5
18 145.0 175 19.7
19 360.0 175 18.7
20 400.0 175 19.2
21 275.8 180 16.3
22 472.0 205 10.4
23 460.0 215 10.4
24 440.0 230 14.7
25 350.0 245 13.3
26 360.0 245 14.3
27 351.0 264 15.8
28 301.0 335 15.0

In the above aggregate function, there are three arguments. First argument in the formula indicates that aggregate function represents mg as a function of disp and hp variables calculating the mean and the second argument is variable depicting the dataset. Using the above code, aggregate function creates a model in which model is evaluating the dependency between the disp and hp variables to verify whether any change in one variable affects another variable or not by mapping the dependency among these two variables.

> aggregate(hp ~ mg : cyl, data = data, mean)
mg cyl hp
1 21.4 4 109.0
2 21.5 4 97.0
3 22.8 4 94.0
4 24.4 4 62.0
5 26.0 4 91.0
6 27.3 4 66.0
7 30.4 4 82.5
8 32.4 4 66.0
9 33.9 4 65.0
10 17.8 6 123.0
11 18.1 6 105.0
12 19.2 6 123.0
13 19.7 6 175.0
14 21.0 6 110.0
15 21.4 6 110.0
16 10.4 8 210.0
17 13.3 8 245.0
18 14.3 8 245.0
19 14.7 8 230.0
20 15.0 8 335.0
21 15.2 8 165.0
22 15.5 8 150.0
23 15.8 8 264.0
24 16.4 8 180.0
25 17.3 8 180.0
26 18.7 8 175.0
27 19.2 8 175.0

In the above aggregate function, there are three arguments. The first argument in the formula indicates that aggregate function represents hp as a function of mg and cyl variables calculating the mean and the second argument is variable depicting the dataset. Using the above code, aggregate function creates a model in which model is evaluating the dependency between the mg and cyl variables to verify whether any change in one variable affects another variable or not by mapping the dependency among these two variables.

> aggregate(wt ~ gr : qsec, data = data, mean)
gr qsec wt
1 5 14.50 3.1700
2 5 14.60 3.5700
3 3 15.41 3.8400
4 5 15.50 2.7700
5 3 15.84 3.5700
6 4 16.46 2.6200
7 5 16.70 2.1400
8 3 16.87 3.5200
9 5 16.90 1.5130
10 3 17.02 3.4400
11 4 17.02 2.8750
12 3 17.05 3.8450
13 3 17.30 3.4350
14 3 17.40 4.0700
15 3 17.42 5.3450
16 3 17.60 3.7300
17 3 17.82 5.4240
18 3 17.98 5.2500
19 3 18.00 3.7800
20 4 18.30 3.4400
21 4 18.52 1.6150
22 4 18.60 2.7800
23 4 18.61 2.3200
24 4 18.90 2.6875
25 3 19.44 3.2150
26 4 19.47 2.2000
27 4 19.90 1.8350
28 4 20.00 3.1900
29 3 20.01 2.4650
30 3 20.22 3.4600
31 4 22.90 3.1500

In the above aggregate function, there are three arguments. The first argument in the formula indicates that aggregate function represents wt as a function of gr and qsec variables calculating the mean and the second argument is variable depicting the dataset. Using the above code, aggregate function creates a model in which model is evaluating the dependency between the gr and qsec variables to verify whether any change in one variable affects another variable or not by mapping the dependency among these two variables.

Summary

In this article I demonstrated how to evaluate interaction between variables from datasets to verify which one of the following variables are dependent on other variables so that unnecessary variables can be removed for creating a best fit model in R.