On the distribution of Fisher's transformation of the correlation coefficient

As the sample size increases, the coefficient of skewness of the Fisher's transformation, z = (1/2) log ((l+r)/(l-r)), of the correlation coefficient decreases much more rapidly than the excess of its kurtosis. Hence, the usual normal approximation for its distribution can be improved by adjusting for the excess of its kurtosis. This is accomplished by mixing the approximating normal distribution with a logistic distribution. The resulting mixture approximation which can be used to estimate the probabilities, as well as the percentiles, compares favorably in both accuracy and simplicity, with the two best earlier approximations, namely, those due to Ruben (1966) and Kraemer (1973).     

Asymptotic convergence in distribution for spearman's rank correlation coefficient

The Edgeworth expansion for the distribution function of Spearman's rank correlation coefficient may be used to show that the rates of convergence for the normal and Pearson type II approximations are l/nand l/n² respectively. Using the Edgeworth expansion up to terms involving the sixth moment of the exact distribution allows an approximation with an error of order l/n³.     

Saddlepoint Approximations to the Density and the Distribution Functions of Linear Combinations of Ratios of Partial Sums

A class of ratios of partial sums, including Normal, Weibull, Gamma, and Exponential distributions, is considered. The distribution of a linear combination of ratios of partial sums from this class is characterized by the distribution of a linear combination of Dirichlet components. This article presents two saddlepoint approaches to calculate the density and the distribution function for such a class of linear combinations. A simulation study is conducted to assess the performance of the saddlepoint methods and shows the great accuracy of the approximations over the usual asymptotic approximation. Applications of the presented approximations in statistical inferences are discussed.     

Bayesian estimation of renewal function for inverse Gaussian renewal process

Two approximation methods are used to obtain the Bayes estimate for the renewal function of inverse Gaussian renewal process. Both approximations use a gamma-type conditional prior for the location parameter, a non-informative marginal prior for the shape parameter, and a squared error loss function. Simulations compare the accuracy of the estimators and indicate that the Tieney and Kadane (T–K)-based estimator out performs Maximum Likelihood (ML)- and Lindley (L)-based estimator. Computations for the T–K-based Bayes estimate employ the generalized Newton's method as well as a recent modified Newton's method with cubic convergence to maximize modified likelihood functions. The program is available from the author.     

A Dimensional CLT for Non-Central Wilks' Lambda in Multivariate Analysis

Abstract.  We consider the non-central distribution of the classical Wilks' lambda statistic for testing the general linear hypothesis in MANOVA. We prove that as the dimension of the observation vector goes to infinity, Wilks' lambda obeys a central limit theorem under simple growth conditions on the non-centrality matrix. In one case we also prove a stronger result: the saddlepoint cumulative distribution function (CDF) approximation for the standardized version of Wilks' lambda converges uniformly on compact sets to the standard normal CDF. These theoretical results go some way towards explaining why saddlepoint approximations to the distribution of Wilks' lambda retain excellent accuracy in high-dimensional cases.     

Bayesian inference of three-parameter bathtub-shaped lifetime distribution

We investigate a Bayesian inference in the three-parameter bathtub-shaped lifetime distribution which is obtained by adding a power parameter to the two-parameter bathtub-shaped lifetime distribution suggested by Chen (2000). The Bayes estimators under the balanced squared error loss function are derived for three parameters. Then, we have used Lindley's and Tierney–Kadane approximations (see Lindley 1980; Tierney and Kadane 1986) for computing these Bayes estimators. In particular, we propose the explicit form of Lindley's approximation for the model with three parameters. We also give applications with a simulated data set and two real data sets to show the use of discussed computing methods. Finally, concluding remarks are mentioned.     

An Approximate Normalizing Power Transformation for the FDistribution

A power transformation of the Fdistribution is presented, yielding simple normal approximations for both probabilities and quantiles of the distribution. The transformation proposed is shown to produce the well-known Wilson-Hilferty cube root transformation (Wilson and Hilferty, 1931) for the chi-square distribution as a limiting case, as well as the Fisher logarithmic transformation (Fisher, 1924, 1925) for equal degrees of freedom. A numerical assessment of the accuracy achieved for approximating tail probabilities and a comparison with some of the existing approximate procedures are given.     

An approximation for the hotelling-lawley trace in the noncentral case

A procedure for estimating power in conjunction with the Hotelling-Lawley trace is developed. By approximating a non-central Wishart distribution with a central Wishart, and using McKeon's (1974) F-type approximation, a relatively simple procedure for obtaining power estimates is obtained. The accuracy of the approximation is investigated by comparing the approximate results with those for a wide range of conditions given in Olson's (1973) extensive Monte Carlo study. Siotani's (1971) asymptotic expansion is used to provide further comparative assessments. It is demonstrated that the approximation is of sufficient accuracy to be used in practical applications.     

A note on the Edgeworth approximation to the distribution of Spearman's Rho with a correction to Pearson's approximation

The approximation of Edgeworth's form of the Gram-Charlier series to the exact cumulative distribution function (c.d.f.) of Spearman's Rank Correlation Coefficient is examined. For both the uncorrected and continuity correction cases, the maximum differences between the Edgeworth approximation and the exact c.d.f. is presented for 9 ≤ n ≤ 18. A correction to a similar, earlier table for the Pearson Type II approximation is also incorporated and comparisons made.     

Asymptotic approximations to the distribution of Kendall's sample τ

This paper provides a saddlepoint approximation to the distribution of the sample version of Kendall's τ, which is a measure of association between two samples. The saddlepoint approximation is compared with the Edgeworth and the normal approximations, and with the bootstrap resampling distribution. A numerical study shows that with small sample sizes the saddlepoint approximation outperforms both the normal and the Edgeworth approximations. This paper gives also an analytical comparison between approximated and exact cumulants of the sample Kendall's τ when the two samples are independent.     

A simple approximation relation between the symmetric generalized logistic and the students t distributions

In this paper, we obtain a new approximation of the Student's t distribution by using the symmetric generalized logistic (SGL) distribution function. The error of this approximation is shown to be 0(1/n² )where nis the degrees of freedom of thetdistribution. In comparison to similar approximations by George and Ojo and George et al. (1986), this new approximation is much simpler and more accurate. It is also shown that under some conditions, the tdistribution is a good approximation of the SGL distribution. Therefore, the complicated expressions for the cumulants and moments of the SGL can be approximated by those of the t, distribution. Finally, numerical results are given.     

Robust estimation for the coefficient of a first order autoregressive process

Nonparametric methods, Theil's method and Hussain's method have been applied to simple linear regression problems for estimating the slope of the regression line.We extend these methods and propose a robust estimator to estimate the coefficient of a first order autoregressive process under various distribution shapes, A simulation study to compare Theil's estimator, Hus-sain's estimator, the least squares estimator, and the proposed estimator is also presented.     

Calculating the density and distribution function for the singly and doubly noncentral F

Simple, closed form saddlepoint approximations for the distribution and density of the singly and doubly noncentral F distributions are presented. Their overwhelming accuracy is demonstrated numerically using a variety of parameter values. The approximations are shown to be uniform in the right tail and the associated limitating relative error is derived. Difficulties associated with some algorithms used for exact computation of the singly noncentral F are noted.     

Saddlepoint density and distribution functions for the ratio of two linear functions and the product of generalized gamma variates

The generalized gamma distribution is a flexible and attractive distribution because it incorporates several well-known distributions, i.e., gamma, Weibull, Rayleigh, and Maxwell. This article derives saddlepoint density and distribution functions for the ratio of two linear functions of generalized gamma variables and the product of n independent generalized gamma variables. Simulation studies are used to evaluate the accuracy of the saddlepoint approximations. The saddlepoint approximations are fast, easy, and very accurate.     

Approximating Matrix-Exponential Distributions by Global Randomization

Abstract

Based on the general concept of randomization, we develop linear-algebraic approximations for continuous probability distributions that involve the exponential of a matrix in their definitions, such as phase types and matrix-exponential distributions. The approximations themselves result in proper probability distributions. For such a global randomization with the Erlang-k distribution, we show that the sequences of true and consistent distribution and density functions converge uniformly on [0, ∞). Furthermore, we study the approximation errors in terms of the power moments and the coefficients of the Taylor series, from which the accuracy of the approximations can be determined apriori. Numerical experiments demonstrate the feasibility of the presented randomization technique – also in comparison with uniformization.     

Comments on zacks' recent paper on one-sided cusum procedures

The goal of this paper is to propose approximations for the cdf and the inverse cdf of the normal sample median. The presented methodology, which seems to not have been investigated before, suggests to fit the normal sample median distribution with a symmetrical Johnson S_U: distribution having ap-proximatively the same second and fourth moments. The results obtained with this approach, compared with the normal approximation, are very impressive, especially for the inverse cdf. One important application of the inverse cdf approximation of the normal sample median is the computation of accurate α‐level median/range control limits for any value of α (and not only for the popular value α = 0.0027). This paper can be also viewed as an homage to Professor N.L. Johnson's works by making a link between two of his major papers.     

Evaluation of the parameters of su by rational fractions

A rational fraction approximation is given for a function of one of the parameters defining Johnson's S_UError assessment for a segment of the domain of validity shows remarkable accuracy.     

Sharp Bounds on a Class of Copulas with known Values at Several Points

We derive best-possible bounds on the class of copulas with known values at several points, under the assumption that the points are either in “increasing order” or in “decreasing order”. These bounds may be used to establish best-possible bounds on Kendall's τ and Spearman's ρ, for such copulas. An important special case is when the values of a copula are known at several diagonal points. We also use our results to establish best-possible bounds on the distribution function of the sum of two random variables with known marginal distributions when the values of the joint distribution function are known at several points.     

A Retrievable Recipe for Inverse t

Although the percentage points of the Student-t distribution have been widely tabulated, a simple approximation is given and derived in this article. The approximation can be re-derived easily, since it is based on the percentage points from the Gaussian distribution, and can thus be used for applications requiring non-integer degrees of freedom (e.g., Welch's two-sample t test) and for arbitrary significance levels (e.g., for Bonferroni multiple comparison procedures). Comparisons between this approximation and others suggested in the literature indicate three-digit accuracy for even small degrees of freedom and tail areas.     

A Note on Bartlett's M Test for Homogeneity of Variances

After pointing out a drawback in Bartlett's chi-square approximation, we suggest a simple modification and a Gamma approximation to improve Bartlett's M test for homogeneity of variances.