When requesting ODS Graphics hazard plots for METHOD=KM|PL, the LIFETEST procedure may issue one or both of the following errors:
ERROR: Invalid Operation. ERROR: Termination due to Floating Point Exception
The errors do not depend on which kernel is specified.
The problem occurs in finding the optimal bandwidth in two specific situations:
1) BANDWIDTH= option is not used
or
2) BANDWIDTH=RANGE(a,b) is used
Smoothed hazard plots can still be produced though you must specify the BANDWIDTH option as either a single number or as a specific list of individual numbers as shown below:
a) PLOTS=HAZARD(BANDWIDTH=number), e.g. - PLOTS=HAZARD(BANDWIDTH=3.5)
or
b) PLOTS=HAZARD(BANDWIDTH=number-list), e.g.- PLOTS=HAZARD(BANDWIDTH=2 3 4 5 6) or PLOTS=HAZARD(BANDWIDTH=2 to 6 by 1)
In the latter case b), PROC LIFETEST will choose the optimal bandwidth in the given list. PROC LIFETEST picks the bandwidth from the list {2, 3, 4, 5, 6} that has the smallest MISE (mean integrated squared error). Note that case b) differs from PLOTS=HAZARD(BANDWIDTH=RANGE(2,6)) where the optimal bandwidth can be any value between 2 and 6 such as 3.12, for example.