Is there a simple way to extract the frailty variance parameter (theta)? Below is an example of the method that I have. library(survival) data(rats) rfit2b <- survreg(Surv(time, status) ~ rx + frailty.gaussian(litter, df=13, sparse=TRUE), rats ) { #According to rfit2b$printfun, this is the way to extract "theta" if (!is.null(rfit2b$history[[1]]$history)) theta <- rfit2b$history[[1]]$history[nrow(rfit2b$history[[1]]$history), 1] else theta <- rfit2b$history[[1]]$theta } theta # This is 0.01926811 #It would be a nice feature if the final variance estimate #was directly accessible by: rfit2b$history[[1]]$theta # This is 0.01926953 != theta Could we make it that way? Sincerely, Jerome Asselin P.S.: I am using the survival package 2.9-6 on R 1.6.2 on RedHat Linux 7.2. -- Jerome Asselin (J?r?me), Statistical Analyst British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS St. Paul's Hospital, 608 - 1081 Burrard Street Vancouver, British Columbia, CANADA V6Z 1Y6 Email: jerome at hivnet.ubc.ca Phone: 604 806-9112 Fax: 604 806-9044