Agreed. The moral is ancient but important.
If people do not state their real problem fully
and precisely, the solution offered may not be
appropriate.
Nick
[email protected]
Ben Jann
> Okay, Nick. Of course your statement is the correct answer to the
> quoted text. I already had some background information when I wrote my
> "No". What Shige meant was to get the same sample each time the
> do-file used to draw the sample is run. It is a multistage sample and
> the do-file contains several -gsample- commands. Shige's colleague
> misunderstood your advice and started to insert -set seed- commands
> before each call to -gsample- although the seed should only be set
> once at the beginning of the do file in this situation.
> ben
>
> On 3/11/07, Nick Cox <[email protected]> wrote:
> > I say No to your No.
> >
> > Shige's question was
> >
> > "I want to make sure I get the same sample each time
> > I invoke the gsample command".
> >
> > Consider this:
> >
> > . clear
> >
> > . set obs 100
> > obs was 0, now 100
> >
> > . gen i = _n
> >
> > . set seed 280352
> >
> > . gsample 20 , generate(sample1)
> >
> > . gsample 20 , generate(sample2)
> >
> > . assert sample1 == sample2
> > 31 contradictions in 100 observations
> > assertion is false
> > r(9);
> >
> > . set seed 280352
> >
> > . gsample 20 , generate(sample3)
> >
> > . assert sample1 == sample3
> >
> > <NB: no response>
> >
> > Perhaps Shige did not mean what he said, or
> > I am quoting out of context, but
> > but that quoted text was I what responding to.
> >
> > Nick
> > [email protected]
> >
> > Ben Jann
> >
> > > Some days ago, the following issue concerning -gsample-
> was posted by
> > > Shige on behalf of a colleague:
> > >
> > > > I am trying to draw a PPS sample using the "gsample"
> > > command. I want
> > > > to make sure I get the same sample each time I invoke
> the gsample
> > > > command by using the "set seed" command. However, even
> > > after I set the
> > > > random seed using "set seed" command, I still get
> different sample
> > > > each time. Has anybody encountered this problem?
> > >
> > > Inspection of Shige's colleague's do-file revealed that
> some -sort-
> > > and -bysort- commands were causing the trouble. It had
> nothing to do
> > > with -gsample-. -sort- has its own random number
> generator to break
> > > ties that does not depend on -set seed-. To make -sort-
> stable either
> > > specify the -stable- option or, better, add a -set
> sortseed- command
> > > at the beginning of the script (see -help sortseed-).
> > >
> > > Nick wrote:
> > > > You must -set seed- immediately before calling -gsample-.
> > >
> > > No. The seed should be set somewhere in the beginning of
> the do-file,
> > > before any command that might possibly depend on it (and it should
> > > only be set once - do not set the seed repeatedly in one script).
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