1
$\begingroup$

TL;DR: My time series passes a ADF test with drift no trend. So, should I leave my data alone and proceed? Or do still need to differentiate it before modelling, because it has drift? Or have I made an error in my process? I am struggling to understand my ADF results. See below for details.

I have a time series of 40 observations, measuring data monthly from 2002–2005. In R:

library(fpp2)
str(insurance[,"TV.advert"])

I want to do a test of stationarity.

Begin with visual tests. First, I plot at the raw data with a trend line: enter image description here It looks quite stationary (lots of consistent variation), but there is a slight trend. Is this a cycle? Or a deterministic trend? I'm not sure.

So, I plot a correlogram of the data.

It appears to be stationary: significance decays sharply after lag 1. But there is some significance at lag 10, too. So, is there a trend or cycle? I think it is ambiguous enter image description here

It appears to be stationary: significance decays sharply after lag 1. But there is some significance at lag 10, too. So, is there a trend or cycle? I think it is ambiguous.

To remove any doubt, I choose to run an Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test.

library(aTSA)
stationary.test(insurance[,"TV.advert"],
                nlag = 13)

In the ADF test, I make k = 12 to include lags for 12 months of the year (in a stationary.test(), for 12 lags I have to make k = 13).

In the results of the ADF test, the time series rejects the null hypothesis for a random walk with drift (Tμ) at lag 0, lag 1, lag 9, and at lag 10. The Tμ-values at lag 0, 1, 9 and 10 (-3.73, -3.64, -4.29, and -3.47) are more negative than -2.93 (using the “Empirical Cumulative Distribution of T” table in Box-Steffensmeier et al., 2014, p. 134) and the p-values are < 0.05.

In addition, the data also passes the ADF at lags 0, 1, 9, and 10 for “Type 3: with drift and trend,” too. The Tτ-values (-3.758, -3.801, -4.274, and -3.626) are more negative than −3.50 and the the p-values are < 0.05.

Here are the results:

Augmented Dickey-Fuller Test 
alternative: stationary 
 
Type 1: no drift no trend 
      lag     ADF p.value
 [1,]   0 -0.3395   0.541
 [2,]   1 -0.4569   0.507
 [3,]   2  0.0580   0.655
 [4,]   3  0.0886   0.663
 [5,]   4 -0.0463   0.625
 [6,]   5  0.4357   0.763
 [7,]   6  0.4857   0.777
 [8,]   7  0.6657   0.829
 [9,]   8  0.3848   0.748
[10,]   9  0.3560   0.740
[11,]  10  0.3008   0.724
[12,]  11  0.2334   0.705
[13,]  12  0.1393   0.678
Type 2: with drift no trend 
      lag   ADF p.value
 [1,]   0 -3.73  0.0100
 [2,]   1 -3.64  0.0107
 [3,]   2 -2.71  0.0860
 [4,]   3 -2.82  0.0702
 [5,]   4 -2.19  0.2587
 [6,]   5 -1.93  0.3537
 [7,]   6 -2.01  0.3274
 [8,]   7 -1.87  0.3764
 [9,]   8 -2.45  0.1633
[10,]   9 -4.29  0.0100
[11,]  10 -3.47  0.0175
[12,]  11 -1.43  0.5384
[13,]  12 -1.09  0.6563
Type 3: with drift and trend 
      lag    ADF p.value
 [1,]   0 -3.758  0.0334
 [2,]   1 -3.801  0.0300
 [3,]   2 -2.780  0.2615
 [4,]   3 -2.867  0.2285
 [5,]   4 -2.324  0.4346
 [6,]   5 -1.938  0.5866
 [7,]   6 -1.978  0.5705
 [8,]   7 -1.816  0.6362
 [9,]   8 -2.391  0.4090
[10,]   9 -4.274  0.0100
[11,]  10 -3.626  0.0437
[12,]  11 -0.953  0.9332
[13,]  12 -0.020  0.9900
---- 
Note: in fact, p.value = 0.01 means p.value <= 0.01 

Now, I am unclear what to do.

In most examples I see, the time series fail on all the ADF tests, so it has to be differentiated.

Because I have passed the ADF “Type 2 with drift no trend,” do I just leave the time series alone? Or do I still have to differentiate it, because it has drift?

$\endgroup$

1 Answer 1

1
$\begingroup$

A visual inspection of your time series together with the results of the ADF tests suggest your series does not have a unit root. Therefore, it need not be differenced.

Your series may contain a deterministic time trend, and that could be accounted for by including a linear (or nonlinear) trend as a regressor in your model. However, visually it is hard to tell whether any trend is present. Aside from a higher spike in 2005, it does not seem there is much of a trend in the data.

$\endgroup$
6
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks for your prompt reply, Richard Hardy. I really appreciate it. I think my confusion about interpreting the ADF test results is the following: the time series fails the “no drift no trend” test, but then it passes both the “with drift no trend” and the “with drift and trend” tests. This is what generated my confusion about whether I needed to difference the data, because the “no drift no trend” test failed. When you have a moment, would you be so kind as to explain why this data passes some tests, but fails others, but also manages to be stationary? $\endgroup$
    – P Braga
    Jan 3, 2022 at 23:59
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @PBraga, only one of the three specifications of the ADF test can be adequate for any given time series. Thus you only need to pay attention to one result. Accordingly, the fact that the other two may suggest a different answer is irrelevant. As to how to select an appropriate specification, consult a time series textbook. The ADF test is usually presented with all its versions and with guidelines on how to select between them. Alternatively, see threads tagged with augmented-dickey-fuller and search among them. $\endgroup$ Jan 4, 2022 at 8:30
  • $\begingroup$ Yes! It was very clear. Thank you. I am such a newb, that I did not know I had to approve it. Thank you for following up. $\endgroup$
    – P Braga
    Jan 13, 2022 at 18:36
  • $\begingroup$ @PBraga, no problem, you are welcome! Let me know if you need any more help with your other question. $\endgroup$ Jan 13, 2022 at 18:36
  • $\begingroup$ @RichardHardy Could you please give a look in my question? I also come into some series with trend that can be eliminated by a first difference, and I am not sure if I can run an ADF test on the differenced series, or should I test the original series. I will be more than grateful if you can help. $\endgroup$
    – zyy
    Jun 18, 2022 at 6:46

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.