HLM/2L and HLM/3L, statistical software for two-level and three-level
hierarchical linear models, are available on the Solaris UNIX
systems Strauss and Mahler. This document describes how
to run these programs in non-interactive and interactive mode.
The document should be viewed as a companion to the HLM/2L
and HLM/3L User Reference Guide.
The instructions for HLM/2L and HLM/3L are identical except for the substitution of 'hlm3l' for 'hlm2l' and 'prssm3' for 'prssm2' in the descriptions below. The rest of these instructions will refer only to HSM/2L.
hlm2l
To create the .ssm file non-interactively, make a UNIX file which contains the responses to the program's prompts for information. Then, if the file is named makessm.rsp, type
hlm2l < makessm.rsp
Whether you run interactively or non-interactively, the program
creates a file named createss.rsp in your current working
directory. The file is a log of all the information accepted by
the program as responses to its internal prompts. This log file
can be renamed and used as a subsequent input file for this step.
If you run non-interactively, createss.rsp will be identical
to your command file makessm.rsp.
If you respond 'y' to the interactive prompt 'Do you
wish to save these descriptive statistics in a file?' or if
your command file contains a 'y' on the line corresponding
to that prompt's response, the statistics are saved in a file
named hlm2ss.sts in your current working directory. If
the file already exists, its contents are replaced.
prssm2 hsb.ssm hsb.suffstat
How to execute the analysis phase--
To proceed interactively using a .ssm file named hsb.ssm, type
hlm2l hsb.ssm
The program will use the default settings for analysis commands.
These defaults are stored in /opt/lib/hlm/comfile2.hlm.
To proceed non-interactively using a .ssm file named hsb.ssm and a command file named hsb.hlm, type
hlm2l hsb.ssm hsb.hlm
Since a command file is specified here, the defaults file (/opt/lib/hlm/comfile2.hlm)
is ignored. All information needed by the program can be placed
in your command file. If you fail to specify all the required
information in your command file, the program may prompt you for
the additional information. One of the required commands you should
include is the name of the output file. An example of this is
provided below. Note that the filenames may not use the
'~' symbol.
How to run these commands in the background--
If you have complete command files (e.g., makessm.rsp or hsb.hlm), the programs will not need to prompt you interactively for additional information. In those cases, you may run those programs in the background. This is essential if you want to log out and let the processing continue. To do this, redirect the output that normally goes to the screen so it is sent instead to a UNIX file. For example, to process the analysis phase command given above, and have the screen output sent to a file named hsb.lst, type
hlm2l hsb.ssm hsb.hlm > hsb.lst &
Command files--important note on layout
Lines of the command files may be longer than 80 characters. Statements starting with the keywords 'level1:', 'level2:' and 'level3:' have one unusual requirement. Variable names appearing after a '+' sign should not have spaces between the sign and the name. For example, the statement
level2: intrcpt1=intrcpt2+sector+meanses+random
may be written as
level2: intrcpt1=intrcpt2 +sector +meanses +random
However, it should not be written as
level2: intrcpt1=intrcpt2 + sector + meanses + random
Furthermore, be sure not to type any spaces after UNIX filenames
when the names appear in command files. All trailing spaces must
be deleted or the space-characters will become part of the filename!
There are sample data files and command files corresponding to
the High School and Beyond survey in the /opt/lib/hlm directory.
(Examples for HLM/3L from the U.S. Sustaining Effects study
are also stored in that directory.) The following section illustrates
how to use the HS&B files with HLM/2L. The discussion
closely parallels the User Reference Guide (URG), pages
13-45.
The ASCII file named /opt/lib/hlm/studeg.dat contains
the raw data for the level-1 (student-level) variables. The ASCII
data file /opt/lib/hlm/scheg.dat contains the level-2
(school-level) variables. The first task is to create the sufficient
statistics matrices and store them in the .ssm file named hsb.ssm.
Consult pages 13-18 of the URG for the specifications of
these data files. The command file that instructs HLM/2L to create
hsb.ssm consists of the following lines. The italicized comments on the right
side of each line indicate which of the program's prompts corresponds
to that line. The comments themselves are not (and may not
be) part of the file.
y Will you be starting with raw data? n Is the input file a v-known file? n Are the input files SYSTAT .SYS files? 4 Number of level-1 vars (not including ID)? (a4,8x,4f12.3) Fortran format for level-1 file? /opt/lib/hlm/studeg.dat Name of level-1 file? n Is there missing data in the level-1 file? 6 Number of level-2 vars (not including the ID)? (a4,2x,6f12.3) Fortran format for level-2 file? /opt/lib/hlm/scheg.dat Name of level-2 file? minority 8-character name for level-1 variable #1 female 8-character name for level-1 variable #2 ses 8-character name for level-1 variable #3 mathach 8-character name for level-1 variable #4 size 8-character name for level-2 variable #1 sector 8-character name for level-2 variable #2 pracad 8-character name for level-2 variable #3 disclim 8-character name for level-2 variable #4 himinty 8-character name for level-2 variable #5 meanses 8-character name for level-2 variable #6 n Is there a level-1 weighting variable? n Is there a level-2 weighting variable hsb.ssm Name of sufficient stats matrices output file? y Want to save descriptive stats in a file named hlm2ssm.sts?
If this file is named makessm.rsp, then typing
hlm2l < makessm.rsp
creates the .ssm file and
the descriptive statistics file (for browsing).
The example command file further specifies that the output file is named model1.lst, and that a residuals file should be created. The residuals file is always named residfil.cmd. If the file already exists, its contents are replaced. The keywords used in the command file are described on pages 29 and 40-45 of the URG.
The contents of the command file are
level1:mathach=intrcpt1+ses,1+random level2:intrcpt1=intrcpt2+sector+meanses+random/size,pracad,disclim level2:ses=intrcpt2+sector+meanses+random/size,pracad,disclim numit:200 lev1ols:10 resfil:y hypoth:n stopval:.00001 constrain:n fixtau:3 output:model1.lst
If the command file is named model1.hlm, then typing
hlm2l hsb.ssm model1.hlm
produces the analysis results.
The programs and their command
syntax are fully described in the manual HLM™/2L and HLM™/3L
User's Reference Guide, A.S. Bryk, S.W. Raudenbush, and R.T.
Congdeon, Jr., SSI Scientific Software International, 1992.
The manual should be used
in conjunction with the text Hierarchical Linear Models: Applications
and Data Analysis Methods, A.S. Bryk and S.W. Raudenbush,
Sage Publications, 1992.
All sample programs and sample
data are stored in the directory /opt/lib/hlm.