make.sample {elec}

Generate fake election results for simulation studies

Description

These methods are for SIMULATION STUDIES. These functions will build a sample, i.e. simulated, record of votes given certain parameters.

Usage

make.sample(
  M,
  N,
  strata = 1,
  per.winner = NULL,
  worst.e.max = NULL,
  R = NULL,
  tot.votes = 1e+05
)

Arguments

M

The margin desired between the winner and loser (as a percent).

N

Number of precincts desired.

strata

Number of strata desired.

per.winner

The percent of votes the winner should receive.

worst.e.max

The worst e.max possible for any precinct.

R

The "dispersion" a measure of how unequal in size precincts should be. R needs to be greater than 0. NULL indicates equal size. For R between 0 and 1, the precincts are distributed 'linearly', i.e., the size of precinct i is proportional to i. At 2, the smallest precint will be near 0 and the largest twice the average votes per precinct. After 2, the precincts are distributed in a more curved fashion so that the smaller precincts do not go negative.

tot.votes

The total votes desired.

Value

A elec.data object meeting the desired specifications.

Author(s)

Luke W. Miratrix

References

See http://www.stat.berkeley.edu/~stark/Vote/index.htm for relevant information.

See Also

elec.data make.truth do.audit

Examples

Z = make.sample(0.08, 150, per.winner=0.4)
Z

Z2 = make.sample(0.08, 150, per.winner=0.4, R=2.2)
Z2

## Note how they have different precinct sizes.

summary(Z$V$tot.votes)
summary(Z2$V$tot.votes)