Omega-Stat: An Environment for Implementing Intelligent Modeling Strategies

Abstract

Omega-Stat is a new statistical environment built on Lisp-Stat, an object-oriented statistical programming environment. It contains extensible, reusable-component libraries for performing data management, multivariate analyses, modeling, and dynamic graphics. The point-and-click user interface allows instant access to all objects, including analysis and graphics objects comprising a semantic map. Knowledge, and methods for accessing this knowledge, are embedded within model objects and edge objects linking these models. This will allow the modeling process to be studied by following the analysis trails of expert analysts. The objective is to provide an "expert consultant" that is accessible as part of the man/machine interaction. Modeling strategies can then be built into Omega-Stat by using prior knowledge and data-analytic heuristics to guide the process of constructing the model tree and the iterative search for an "optimal" model.