Three Sample Estimates of Fraction of Missing Information From Full Information Maximum Likelihood

Abstract

In missing data analysis, the reporting of missing rates is insufficient for the readers to determine the impact of missing data on the efficiency of parameter estimates. A more diagnostic measure, the fraction of missing information (FMI), shows how the standard errors of parameter estimates increase from the information loss due to ignorable missing data. FMI is well-known in the multiple imputation literature (Rubin, 1987), but it has only been more recently developed for full information maximum likelihood (Savalei and Rhemtulla, 2012). Sample FMI estimates using this approach have since then been made accessible as part of the lavaan package (Rosseel, 2012) in the R statistical programming language. However, the properties of FMI estimates at finite sample sizes have not been the subject of comprehensive investigation. In this paper, we present a simulation study on the properties of three sample FMI estimates from FIML in two common models in psychology, regression and two-factor analysis. We summarize the performance of these FMI estimates and make recommendations on their application.