Link predictions for incomplete network data with outcome misclassification.

Abstract

Link prediction is a fundamental problem in network analysis. In a complex network, links can be unreported and/or under detection limits due to heterogeneous sources of noise and technical challenges during data collection. The incomplete network data can lead to an inaccurate inference of network based data analysis. We propose a parametric link prediction model and consider latent links as misclassified binary outcomes. We develop new algorithms to optimize model parameters and yield robust predictions of unobserved links. Theoretical properties of the predictive model are also discussed. We apply the new method to a partially observed social network data and incomplete brain network data. The results demonstrate that our method outperforms the existing latent-link prediction methods.