Journal of Data Science

Abstract: Relative entropy identities yield basic decompositions of cat egorical data log-likelihoods. These naturally lead to the development of information models in contrast to the hierarchical log-linear models. A recent study by the authors clarified the principal difference in the data likelihood analysis between the two model types. The proposed scheme of log-likelihood decomposition introduces a prototype of linear information models, with which a basic scheme of model selection can be formulated accordingly. Empirical studies with high-way contingency tables are exem plified to illustrate the natural selections of information models in contrast to hierarchical log-linear models.

In square contingency tables, analysis of agreement between row and column classifications is of interest. For nominal categories, kappa co- efficient is used to summarize the degree of agreement between two raters. Numerous extensions and generalizations of kappa statistics have been pro- posed in the literature. In addition to the kappa coefficient, several authors use agreement in terms of log-linear models. This paper focuses on the approaches to study of interrater agreement for contingency tables with nominal or ordinal categories for multiraters. In this article, we present a detailed overview of agreement studies and illustrate use of the approaches in the evaluation agreement over three numerical examples.