Rejoinder to 'Ahmed, M.S. (1998). A note on regression-type estimators using multiple auxiliary information.'

In the estimators t ₃ , t ₄ , t ₅ of Mukerjee, Rao & Vijayan (1987), b _{y x} and b _{y z} are partial regression coefficients of y on x and z , respectively, based on the smaller sample. With the above interpretation of b _{y x} and b _{y z} in t ₃ , t ₄ , t ₅ , all the calculations in Mukerjee at al. (1987) are correct. In this connection, we also wish to make it explicit that b _{x z} in t ₅ is an ordinary and not a partial regression coefficient. The 'corrected' MSEs of t ₃ , t ₄ , t ₅ , as given in Ahmed (1998 Section 3) are computed assuming that our b _{y x} and b _{y z} are ordinary and not partial regression coefficients. Indeed, we had no intention of giving estimators using the corresponding ordinary regression coefficients which would lead to estimators inferior to those given by Kiregyera (1984). We accept responsibility for any notational confusion created by us and express regret to readers who have been confused by our notation. Finally, in consideration of the above, it may be noted that Tripathi & Ahmed's (1995) estimator t ₀ , quoted also in Ahmed (1998), is no better than t ₅ of Mukerjee at al. (1987).     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed:
Bosq, D. Nonparametric Statistics for Stochastic Processes: Estimation and Prediction
Khuri, A.I., Mathew, T. & Sinha, B.K. Statistical Tests for Mixed Linear Models
Latouche, G. & Ramaswami, V. Introduction to Matrix Analytic Methods in Stochastic Modeling
Maitra, A.P. & Sudderth, W.D. Discrete Gambling and Stochastic Games
Rolski, T., Schmidli, H., Schmidt, V. & Teugels, J. Stochastic Processes for Insurance and Finance
Chung, K.L. & Williams, R.J. Introduction to Stochastic Integration     

Designs with Repeated Measurements on Any Number of Units over Varying Periods

In the usual repeated measurements designs (RMDs), the subjects are all observed for the same number of periods and the optimum RMDs require specified numbers of subjects, usually depending on the number of treatments to be used. In practice, it is sometimes not feasible to meet these requirements. To overcome this problem, alternative designs are suggested where any number of available subjects may be used and they may be observed for different periods. These designs are based on suitable serially balanced sequences which are shown to be optimal. Moreover, besides the usual direct and residual effects, the model considered has an extra term due to the interaction effect between them. The recommended designs are universally optimal in a very general class.     

Minimum Aberration Regular Two-Level Designs in the Presence of Dispersion Factors

In practice, the variance of the response variable may change as some specific factors change from one setting to another in a factorial experiment. These factors affecting the variation of the response are called dispersion factors, which can violate the usual assumption of variance homogeneity. In this study, we modify the conventional minimum aberration criterion to take the impact of dispersion factors into account. The situations of one or two dispersion factors are investigated. As a result, we present regular 2^{n ? p} designs with run sizes equal to 16 and 32 using the modified minimum aberration criterion.