State of the multiple imputation software

Abstract

Owing to its practicality as well as strong inferential properties, multiple imputation has been increasingly popular in the analysis of incomplete data. Methods that are not only computationally elegant but also applicable in wide spectrum of statistical incomplete data problems have also been increasingly implemented in a numerous computing envi- ronments. Unfortunately, however, the speed of this development has not been replicated in reaching to "sophisticated" users. While the researchers have been quite successful in developing the underlying software, documentation in a style that would be most reach- able to the greater scientific society has been lacking. The main goal of this special volume is to close this gap by articles that illustrate these software developments. Here I provide a brief history of multiple imputation and relevant software and highlight the contents of the contributions. Potential directions for the future of the software development is also provided.