Abstract
Abstract. The detection of community or population structure through analysis of explicit cause–effect modeling of given observations has received considerable attention. The complexity of the task is mirrored by the large number of existing approaches and methods, the applicability of which heavily depends on the design of efficient algorithms of data analysis. It is occasionally even difficult to disentangle concepts and algorithms. To add more clarity to this situation, the present paper focuses on elaborating the system analytic framework that probably encompasses most of the common concepts and approaches by classifying them as model-based analyses of latent factors. Problems concerning the efficiency of algorithms are not of primary concern here. In essence, the framework suggests an input–output model system in which the inputs are provided as latent model parameters and the output is specified by the observations. There are two types of model involved, one of which organizes the inputs by assigning combinations of potentially interacting factor levels to each observed object, while the other specifies the mechanisms by which these combinations are processed to yield the observations. It is demonstrated briefly how some of the most popular methods (Structure, BAPS, Geneland) fit into the framework and how they differ conceptually from each other. Attention is drawn to the need to formulate and assess qualification criteria by which the validity of the model can be judged. One probably indispensable criterion concerns the cause–effect character of the model-based approach and suggests that measures of association between assignments of factor levels and observations be considered together with maximization of their likelihoods (or posterior probabilities). In particular the likelihood criterion is difficult to realize with commonly used estimates based on Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms. Generally applicable MCMC-based alternatives that allow for approximate employment of the primary qualification criterion and the implied model validation including further descriptors of model characteristics are suggested.
Highlights
Methods of model-based ascertainment of hidden population substructure enjoy considerable popularity
To add more clarity to this situation, the present paper focuses on elaborating the system analytic framework that probably encompasses most of the common concepts and approaches by classifying them as model-based analyses of latent factors
To shed more light on general relations existing among approaches, an attempt is made in the present paper to outline the system analytic basis common to at least the most frequently applied methods and to enable clear distinction between the conclusions to be obtained from the different
Summary
Methods of model-based ascertainment of hidden population substructure enjoy considerable popularity (most of which are variants of the approaches introduced in the papers of Pritchard et al, 2000; Corander et al, 2003; or Gouillot et al, 2005). The farther-reaching interest in this topic comes from the common concern that inferences drawn from observations on collections of biological objects miss relevant information because the underlying forces and mechanisms are not traceable or escaped notice This is especially disturbing if well-argued reasons or hypotheses that suggest the existence of special but untraceable cause–effect relations are at hand. The present paper concentrates on explicating the conceptual features of the above-sketched approach to modeling latent forces and demonstrates the integrating capacity of the concept by application to a small number of common methods It does not expand on problems of numerical determination (estimation) of parameters since appropriate approximation algorithms (such as MCMC methods) are well established and efficient software exists. Descriptors of model qualification criteria will receive due consideration
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