How obtain the true residual deviance and degrees of freedom in R of a glm model when a set of parameters gets pasted() as a vector

Question

I'm writing a script (in python, with the R parts in pypeR) such that I need to use a function in R that compares two models with an F-ratio test.

The models are like this:

Model 1: Response ~ Predictor A + Predictor B + Predictor C.... + Predictor n
Model 2: Response ~ Predictor 1

Together predictors A+B+...n make up Predictor 1, so there's no problem with nesting here (trust me).

When I pass Predictor A + Predictor B + Predictor C.... + Predictor n to the function I've created, I think it's treating them as one variable (because the degrees of freedom is the same as that of Model 2). Perhaps this is because I'm using paste()? Anyway, the actual number of predictors in model 1 will be changing across runs (which is why I need it as a function), so I'm not sure how else to accommodate this besides using paste().

Bear in mind that paste may not actually be the problem here; I just wanted to let people know that I thought the problem might be.

Are there any suggestions for how I might obtain to true residual deviance and degrees of freedom for model 1? It can be a hack. For instance, I was simply subtracting length(vector of predictors) - 1 to obtain the degrees of freedom. I have no idea what a similar hack for residual deviance would be.

Here's the function and an example instantiation:

make_and_compare_models <- function(fitness_trait_name, data_frame_name, vector_for_multiple_regression, predictor_for_single_regression, fam){
    fit1<-glm(formula=as.formula(paste(fitness_trait_name,"~", paste(vector_for_multiple_regression, sep="+"))), family=fam, data=data_frame_name)
    #print ('length of vector of predictors')
    additional.degrees.of.freedom.fit1<-length(vector_for_multiple_regression)-1 ##the paste above prevents R from recognizing all of the vectors as separate predictors. This -1 gives you the difference in parameter number between the two models.
    print ("summary fit 1")
    print(summary(fit1))
    dev1<-(fit1$deviance)
    print ('residual deviance of fit1')
    print (dev1)
    print(fit1$df.residual)

    ##this is how I'd correct for degrees of freedom
    #df1=fit1$df.residual-additional.degrees.of.freedom.fit1
    #fit1$df.residual=df1

    ##if the old way
    df1=fit1$df.residual
    print(fit1$df.residual)
    print ('df1')
    print (df1)

    fit2<- glm(data=data_frame_name, formula=as.formula(paste(fitness_trait_name,"~",predictor_for_single_regression)), family=fam)

    print("summary fit 2")
    print(summary(fit2))
    print ("deviance of fit2")
    dev2<-(fit2$deviance)
    print(dev2)
    df2=fit2$df.residual
    print ('df2')
    print (df2)
    F.ratio<-((dev2-dev1)/(df2-df1))/(dev1/df1)
    print('F.ratio')
    print(F.ratio)
    new.p<-1-pf(F.ratio,abs(df1-df2),max(df2,df1))
    print('new.p')
    print(new.p)

}

data <- structure(list(ID = c(1L, 2L, 4L, 7L, 9L, 10L, 12L, 13L, 14L, 
15L, 16L, 17L, 18L, 20L, 21L, 22L, 23L, 24L, 25L, 27L, 28L, 29L, 
31L, 34L, 37L, 38L, 39L, 40L, 41L, 43L, 44L, 45L, 46L, 47L, 48L, 
49L, 52L, 55L, 56L, 59L, 60L, 61L, 62L, 63L, 65L, 66L, 67L, 68L, 
69L, 71L), QnWeight_initial = c(158L, 165L, 137L, 150L, 153L, 
137L, 158L, 163L, 159L, 151L, 145L, 144L, 157L, 144L, 133L, 148L, 
151L, 151L, 147L, 158L, 178L, 164L, 134L, 151L, 148L, 142L, 127L, 
179L, 162L, 150L, 151L, 153L, 163L, 155L, 163L, 170L, 149L, 165L, 
128L, 134L, 145L, 147L, 148L, 160L, 131L, 155L, 169L, 143L, 123L, 
151L), Survived_eclosion = c(0L, 1L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 
1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 1L, 
1L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 
1L, 1L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L), Days_wrkr_eclosion_minus20 = c(NA, 
1L, NA, 3L, 0L, 2L, 0L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 1L, NA, 0L, 7L, 1L, 0L, 
1L, 0L, 1L, 2L, 2L, NA, 2L, 3L, 2L, 2L, NA, 0L, 1L, NA, NA, 0L, 
0L, 0L, 0L, 3L, 3L, 3L, 1L, 0L, 2L, NA, 1L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 3L, 1L, 
2L), MLH = c(0.5, 0.666666667, 0.555555556, 0.25, 1, 0.5, 0.333333333, 
0.7, 0.5, 0.7, 0.5, 0.666666667, 0.375, 0.4, 0.5, 0.333333333, 
0.4, 0.375, 0.3, 0.5, 0.3, 0.2, 0.4, 0.875, 0.6, 0.4, 0.222222222, 
0.222222222, 0.6, 0.6, 0.3, 0.4, 0.714285714, 0.4, 0.3, 0.6, 
0.4, 0.7, 0.625, 0.555555556, 0.25, 0.5, 0.5, 0.6, 0.25, 0.428571429, 
0.3, 0.25, 0.375, 0.555555556), Acon5 = c(0.35387674, 0.35387674, 
0.35387674, 0.35387674, 0.35387674, 0.35387674, 0.35387674, 0, 
0, 1, 0, 1, 0.35387674, 0, 0, 0.35387674, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 
0.35387674, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 
0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0.35387674), Baez = c(1, 1, 1, 0.467836257, 
1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0.467836257, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 
0, 0, 0.467836257, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 
1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1), C294 = c(0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 
0.582542694, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 
0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0.582542694, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 
1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1), C316 = c(1, 1, 0, 0, 0.519685039, 
0.519685039, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0.519685039, 0, 
1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0.519685039, 1, 0, 1, 
1, 0, 0.519685039, 1, 0.519685039, 1, 1, 1, 0.519685039, 0.519685039, 
0, 0.519685039, 0.519685039, 0), i_120_PigTail = c(1, 1, 0, 1, 
0.631236443, 0.631236443, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0.631236443, 1, 1, 
1, 0, 0.631236443, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0.631236443, 0, 1, 
1, 0, 1, 0.631236443, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0.631236443, 0.631236443, 
0, 1, 0, 0.631236443, 0.631236443, 1, 0.631236443, 0.631236443, 
1), i129 = c(0L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 1L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 
1L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 
0L, 0L, 1L, 0L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 
0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L), Jackstraw_PigTail = c(0L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 
1L, 1L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 
1L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 1L, 0L, 1L, 
0L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 1L, 1L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L, 0L), Neil_Young = c(0.529636711, 
0, 1, 0, 0.529636711, 0.529636711, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 
1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 
1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1), Ramble = c(0, 0, 0, 
0, 0.215163934, 0.215163934, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 
0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0.215163934, 0, 
0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0.215163934, 0, 0, 0, 0), Sol_18 = c(1, 
0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 
0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0.404669261, 
1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1)), .Names = c("ID", "QnWeight_initial", 
"Survived_eclosion", "Days_wrkr_eclosion_minus20", "MLH", "Acon5", 
"Baez", "C294", "C316", "i_120_PigTail", "i129", "Jackstraw_PigTail", 
"Neil_Young", "Ramble", "Sol_18"), class = "data.frame", row.names = c(NA, 
-50L))


make_and_compare_models("QnWeight_initial", data, c("Acon5","Baez","C294","C316","i_120_PigTail","i129","Jackstraw_PigTail","Neil_Young","Ramble","Sol_18"), "MLH", "gaussian")

Answer 1

Perhaps I am misunderstanding the question, but anova will compare models, and you can give it a test. I'm not sure about your statement regarding nesting (and will leave it up to you to be sure you are doing something sensible here)

comparemodels <- function(data, response, terms1, terms2, test, family = 'gaussian', ...) {
  f1 <- reformulate(terms1, response)
  f2 <- reformulate(terms2, response)
  m1 <- glm(f1, data = data, family = family)
  m2 <- glm(f2, data = data, family = family)
  compare <- anova(m1, m2, test = test)
  print(compare)

}

response <- 'QnWeight_initial'
t1 <- c("Acon5","Baez","C294","C316","i_120_PigTail","i129","Jackstraw_PigTail","Neil_Young","Ramble","Sol_18")
t2 <- 'MLH'
comparemodels(data, response,t1, t2,  test = 'F' )


Analysis of Deviance Table

Model 1: QnWeight_initial ~ Acon5 + Baez + C294 + C316 + i_120_PigTail + 
    i129 + Jackstraw_PigTail + Neil_Young + Ramble + Sol_18
Model 2: QnWeight_initial ~ MLH
  Resid. Df Resid. Dev Df Deviance      F Pr(>F)
1        39     7197.1                          
2        48     7614.1 -9  -417.08 0.2511 0.9837