Re: st: generating random numbers without replacement

[Michael McCulloch <mm@pinestreetfoundation.org>]

Thank you kindly Nick for the translation!
How would I rewrite the ultimate line (a, meaning "now show me a), to instead generate the variable a according to the preceding specifications?

And, can you recommend a book or tutorial that explains Mata as you so clearly do here?

Best wishes,
Michael McCulloch, LAc MPH PhD

--
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On May 24, 2013, at 10:05 PM, Nick Cox wrote:

> Note that the Mata code misses a trick
> 
> a = J(100,1,.)
> for(i = 1; i<=100; i++) a[i,1] = i
> 
> is a long-winded alternative to
> 
> a = 1::100
> 
> In fact you could shorten the code further, but I will stop there.
> 
> One Stata translation is
> 
> set obs 100
> gen a = _n
> gen rnd = runiform()
> sort rnd
> l a rnd
> 
> I would usually preface that by -set seed 2803- or some such.
> 
> Here is a line-by-line translation
> 
> mata
> // open Mata
> a=J(100,1,.)
> // a is a vector with 100 rows, 1 column, all missing values
> for(i=1;i<=100;i++) a[i,1]=i
> // loop from i = 1 to i = 100 incrementing i by 1 at each step:
> // set the i th row and 1st column of a to i
> a=a,runiform(100,1)
> // join a row-by-row with a vector with 100 rows, 1 column of uniform
> random numbers
> a=sort(a,2)
> // sort a according to the values in the second column:
> // wanted consequence is a random shuffle of 1::100 in first column
> a
> // now show me a
> 
> I wrote -swor- a while back, but I can't remember much about it. More
> important is -sample-.
> 
> SJ-5-1  dm86_1  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Software update for swor
>        (help swor if installed)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  N. J. Cox
>        Q1/05   SJ 5(1):139
>        swor rewritten to use sort, stable for reproducibility and
>        sortpreserve for compatibility; help file also modernized
> 
> STB-59  dm86  Sampling without replacement: abs. sample sizes & keeping all obs
>        (help swor if installed)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  N. J. Cox
>        1/01    pp.8--9; STB Reprints Vol 10, pp.38--39
>        samples without replacement a specified sample size;
>        alternative to sample
> 
> Nick
> njcoxstata@gmail.com
> 
> On 24 May 2013 22:30, Michael McCulloch <mm@pinestreetfoundation.org> wrote:
> 
>> I wish to generate random numbers between 1 and 5, without replacement. I have located the following Mata code, but have not yet learned Mata. Is it possible to rewrite this to create the variable a?
>> 
>> mata
>> a=J(100,1,.)
>> for(i=1;i<=100;i++) a[i,1]=i
>> a=a,runiform(100,1)
>> a=sort(a,2)
>> a
>> end
>> 
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