The Johnson System of Frequency Curves—Historical,Graphical, and Limiting Perspectives

Abstract

The idea of transforming one random variate to another with a more convenient density has been developed in the first half of the 20th century. In his thesis, Norman L. Johnson (1917–2004) developed a pioneering system of transformations of the standard normal distribution which gained substantial popularity in the second half of the 20th century and beyond. In Johnson’s 1949 Johnson, N. L. (1949), “Systems of Frequency Curves Generated by Methods of Translation,” Biometrika, 36, 149–176.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] Biometrika paper entitled Systems of frequency curves generated by methods of translation, summarizing that thesis, one of his primary interests was the behavior of the shape of the probability density functions as their parameter values change. Herein, we attempt to further elucidate this behavior through a series of geometric expositions of that transformation process. In these expositions insight is obtained into the behavior of Johnson’s density functions, and their skewness and kurtosis, as they converge to their limiting distributions, a topic which received little attention.     

Tables to Facilitate Fitting Tadikamalla and Johnson's LB Distributions

This paper is concerned with estimating the parameters of Tadikamalla-Johnson's L_B distribution using the first four moments. Tables of the parameters of the L_B distribution are given for selected values of skewness (0.0(0.05) 1.0(0.1)2.0) and corresponding available values of kurtosis at intervals of 0.2. The construction and use of these tables is explained with a numerical example.     

Goodness of fit for thei ordered categories discrete uniform distribution

Goodness of fit for thei ordered categories discrete uniform distribution can be carried out using Pearson's X² _pstatistic and its components. Applications of this technique are considered and comparisons made with recently suggested empirical uniform distribution     

On the efficiency of using the sample kurtosis in selecting optimal lpestimators

This paper examines the efficiency of thesample kurtosisin obtaining L_P estimates as an estimates of central tendency for symmetric distributions. Moreover, guidelines are established for determining an optimal value of P based on the kurtosis of the error distribution.     

Estimation of principal points for a multivariate binary distribution using a log-linear model

This article proposes a method for estimating principal points for a multivariate binary distribution, assuming a log-linear model for the distribution. Through numerical simulation studies, the proposed parametric estimation method using a log-linear model is compared with a nonparametric estimation method.     

On a bounded bimodal two-sided distribution fitted to the Old-Faithful geyser data

In this paper, we shall develop a novel family of bimodal univariate distributions (also allowing for unimodal shapes) and demonstrate its use utilizing the well-known and almost classical data set involving durations and waiting times of eruptions of the Old-Faithful geyser in Yellowstone park. Specifically, we shall analyze the Old-Faithful data set with 272 data points provided in Dekking et al. [3]. In the process, we develop a bivariate distribution using a copula technique and compare its fit to a mixture of bivariate normal distributions also fitted to the same bivariate data set. We believe the fit-analysis and comparison is primarily illustrative from an educational perspective for distribution theory modelers, since in the process a variety of statistical techniques are demonstrated. We do not claim one model as preferred over the other.     

Tables to facilitate fitting lu distributions

This paper is concerned with estimating the parameters of Tadikamalla-Johnson's L_Udistributions based on the method of moments. Tables of the parameters of the L_U distribution are given for selected values of skewness (0.0(0.05) 1.0(0.1)2.0) and for twenty values of kurtosis at intervals of 0.2. The construction and use of these tables is explained with a numerical example.     

The McDonald arcsine distribution: a new model to proportional data

We propose a new three-parameter continuous model called the McDonald arcsine distribution, which is a very competitive model to the beta, beta type I and Kumaraswamy distributions for modelling rates and proportions. We provide a mathematical treatment of the new distribution including explicit expressions for the density function, moments, generating and quantile functions, mean deviations, two probability measures based on the Bonferroni and Lorenz curves, Shannon entropy, Rényi entropy and cumulative residual entropy. Maximum likelihood is used to estimate the model parameters and the expected information matrix is determined. An application of the proposed model to real data shows that it can give consistently a better fit than other important statistical models.     

Analysis of survival data by a Weibull-generalized Poisson distribution

In life-testing and survival analysis, sometimes the components are arranged in series or parallel system and the number of components is initially unknown. Thus, the number of components, say Z, is considered as random with an appropriate probability mass function. In this paper, we model the survival data with baseline distribution as Weibull and the distribution of Z as generalized Poisson, giving rise to four parameters in the model: increasing, decreasing, bathtub and upside bathtub failure rates. Two examples are provided and the maximum-likelihood estimation of the parameters is studied. Rao's score test is developed to compare the results with the exponential Poisson model studied by Kus [17] and the exponential-generalized Poisson distribution with baseline distribution as exponential and the distribution of Z as generalized Poisson. Simulation studies are carried out to examine the performance of the estimates.     

An approximation to percentiles of a variable of the bivariate normal distribution when the other variable is truncated,with applications

A Cornish-Fisher expansion is used to approximate the per-centiles of a variable of the bivariate normal distribution when the other variable is truncated. The expression is in terms of the bivariate cumulants of a singly truncated bivariate normal distribution. The percentiles are useful in the problem of personnel selection where we use a screening variable to screen applicants for employment and a correlated performance variable to screen employees for rehiring. This paper provides a bivariate cumulants table for determining the cutoff score of the performance variable. The following two problems are also con¬sidered: (1) determine the proportion of applicants who would have been successful had no screening been applied, and (2) determine the proportion of individuals being rejected byscreening who would have been successful had they been hired, The variable that is used to measure job performance and the variable that measures the outcome of an aptitude test are assumed to be jointly normally distributed with correlation ρ     

Improved strategy to collect sensitive data by using geometric distribution as a randomization device

Abstract

In this article, we improvise Singh and Grewal (2013 Singh, S., and I. S. Grewal. 2013. Geometric distribution as a randomization device implemented in the Kuk’s model. International Journal of Contemporary Mathematical Sciences 8:243–8.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) and Hussain et al. (2016 Hussain, Z., J. Shabbir, Z. Pervez, S. F. Shah, and M. Khan. 2016. Generalized geometric distribution of order k: A flexible choice to randomize the response. Communications in Statistics: Simulation and Computation 46:4708–21.[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) techniques by introducing a new two-stage randomization response process. Using the proposed new technique, we achieve better efficiency and increasing protection of privacy of respondents than the Kuk (1990 Kuk, A. Y. C. 1990. Asking sensitive questions indirectly. Biometrika 77 (2):436–8.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), Singh and Grewal (2013 Singh, S., and I. S. Grewal. 2013. Geometric distribution as a randomization device implemented in the Kuk’s model. International Journal of Contemporary Mathematical Sciences 8:243–8.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) and Hussain et al. (2016 Hussain, Z., J. Shabbir, Z. Pervez, S. F. Shah, and M. Khan. 2016. Generalized geometric distribution of order k: A flexible choice to randomize the response. Communications in Statistics: Simulation and Computation 46:4708–21.[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) models. The relative efficiency and protection of the respondents of the proposed two-stage randomization device have been investigated through simulation study, and the situations are reported where the proposed estimator performs better than its competitors. The SAS code used to investigate the performance of the proposed strategy are also provided.     

A semi-analytical solution to the maximum-likelihood fit of Poisson data to a linear model using the Cash statistic

The Cash statistic, also known as the C statistic, is commonly used for the analysis of low-count Poisson data, including data with null counts for certain values of the independent variable. The use of this statistic is especially attractive for low-count data that cannot be combined, or re-binned, without loss of resolution. This paper presents a new maximum-likelihood solution for the best-fit parameters of a linear model using the Poisson-based Cash statistic. The solution presented in this paper provides a new and simple method to measure the best-fit parameters of a linear model for any Poisson-based data, including data with null counts. In particular, the method enforces the requirement that the best-fit linear model be non-negative throughout the support of the independent variable. The method is summarized in a simple algorithm to fit Poisson counting data of any size and counting rate with a linear model, by-passing entirely the use of the traditional χ2 statistic.     

Bayesian analysis of paired survival data using a bivariate exponential distribution

We consider a Bayesian analysis method of paired survival data using a bivariate exponential model proposed by Moran (1967, Biometrika 54:385–394). Important features of Moran’s model include that the marginal distributions are exponential and the range of the correlation coefficient is between 0 and 1. These contrast with the popular exponential model with gamma frailty. Despite these nice properties, statistical analysis with Moran’s model has been hampered by lack of a closed form likelihood function. In this paper, we introduce a latent variable to circumvent the difficulty in the Bayesian computation. We also consider a model checking procedure using the predictive Bayesian P-value.     

On prediction from the location-scale model with a compound error distribution

The prediction distribution of future response(s) given a set of data from a location-scale model with a compound error distribution has been derived by utilizing the structural relations of the model. The compound error distribution has been specialized to cover the case of multivariate t-distribution.     

Application of skew-normal distribution for detecting differential expression to microRNA data

Traditional statistical modeling of continuous outcome variables relies heavily on the assumption of a normal distribution. However, in some applications, such as analysis of microRNA (miRNA) data, normality may not hold. Skewed distributions play an important role in such studies and might lead to robust results in the presence of extreme outliers. We apply a skew-normal (SN) distribution, which is indexed by three parameters (location, scale and shape), in the context of miRNA studies. We developed a test statistic for comparing means of two conditions replacing the normal assumption with SN distribution. We compared the performance of the statistic with other Wald-type statistics through simulations. Two real miRNA datasets are analyzed to illustrate the methods. Our simulation findings showed that the use of a SN distribution can result in improved identification of differentially expressed miRNAs, especially with markedly skewed data and when the two groups have different variances. It also appeared that the statistic with SN assumption performs comparably with other Wald-type statistics irrespective of the sample size or distribution. Moreover, the real dataset analyses suggest that the statistic with SN assumption can be used effectively for identification of important miRNAs. Overall, the statistic with SN distribution is useful when data are asymmetric and when the samples have different variances for the two groups.     

A stratified estimation of a sensitive character by using geometric distribution

Abstract

In this paper, we consider the estimation of a sensitive character when the population is consisted of several strata; this is undertaken by applying Niharika et al.’s model which is using geometric distribution as a randomization device. A sensitive parameter is estimated for the case in which stratum size is known, and proportional and optimum allocation methods are taken into account. We extended the Niharika et al.’s model to the case of an unknown stratum size; a sensitive parameter is estimated by applying stratified double sampling to the Niharika et al.’s model. Finally, the efficiency of the proposed model is compared with that of Niharika et al. in terms of the estimator variance.     

Application of a predictive distribution formula to Bayesian computation for incomplete data models

We consider exact and approximate Bayesian computation in the presence of latent variables or missing data. Specifically we explore the application of a posterior predictive distribution formula derived in Sweeting And Kharroubi (2003), which is a particular form of Laplace approximation, both as an importance function and a proposal distribution. We show that this formula provides a stable importance function for use within poor man’s data augmentation schemes and that it can also be used as a proposal distribution within a Metropolis-Hastings algorithm for models that are not analytically tractable. We illustrate both uses in the case of a censored regression model and a normal hierarchical model, with both normal and Student t distributed random effects. Although the predictive distribution formula is motivated by regular asymptotic theory, it is not necessary that the likelihood has a closed form or that it possesses a local maximum.     

Estimation of a rare sensitive attribute in probability proportional to size measures using Poisson distribution

We propose new variants of Land et al.’s [Estimation of a rare sensitive attribute using Poisson distribution. Statistics. 2011. DOI: 10.1080/02331888.2010.524300] randomized response model when a population consists of some clusters and the population is stratified with some clusters in each stratum. The estimator for the mean number of persons who possess a rare sensitive attribute, its variance, and the variance estimator are suggested when the parameter of a rare unrelated attribute is assumed to be known and unknown. The clusters are selected with and without replacement. When they are selected with replacement, the selecting probabilities for each cluster are defined depending on the cluster sizes and with equal probability. In addition, the variance comparison between a probability proportional to size (PPS) and PPS for stratification are performed. When the parameters vary in clusters, the stratified PPS has better efficiency than the PPS.     

Estimation of a rare sensitive attribute in a stratified two-stage unrelated randomized response model by using Poisson probability distribution

The present article deals with the estimation of mean number of respondents who possess a rare sensitive character in presence of known and unknown proportion of a rare unrelated non-sensitive attribute by using the Poisson probability distribution in stratified random sampling as well as in stratified random double sampling. The variance of rare sensitive character is also derived under proportional and optimal allocation methods in stratified random sampling when stratum sizes are known and unknown. The properties of the suggested estimation procedures have been deeply examined. The proposed model is found to be dominant over Lee et al. [Estimation of a rare sensitive attribute in a stratified sample using Poisson distribution. Statistics. 2013;47:575–589] model. Numerical illustrations are presented to support the theoretical results. Results are analysed and suitable recommendations are put forward to the survey practitioners.