A consistent correlation-type goodness-of-fit test;with application to the two-parameter weibull distribution

In this article the properties of a general univariate JiT-sample rank tests for complete block designs are investigated. Especially, the asymptotic distribution of the test .statistic under H0 and under contiguous alternatives is derived. Some asymptotic relative'PITMAN efficiencies are computed.

AMSX 1980 subject classifications: Primary 62G10; secondary 62K10     

Linear signed rank tests for hultivariate location

Previously proposed linear signed rank tests for multivariate location are not invariant under linear transformations of the observations, The asymptotic relative efficiencies of the tests 2 with respect to Hotelling's T²test depend on the direction of shift and the covariance matrix of the alternative distributions. For distributions with highly correlated components, the efficiencies of some of these tests can be arbitrarily low; they approach zero for certain multivariate normal alternatives, This article proposes a transformation of the data to be performed prior to standard linear signed rank tests, The resulting procedures have attractive power and efficiency properties compared to the original tests, In particular, for elliptically symmetric contiguous alternafives, the efficiencies of the new tests equal those of corresponding univariate linear signed rank tests with respect to the t test.     

A class of distribution-free tests for the two-sample slippage problem

A class of distribution-free tests for the two-sample slippage problem, when the random variables take only nonnegative values, is proposed. These tests are consistent and unbiased against the general slippage alternative. Recurrence relations for generating small sample significance points are given. The tests have been compared with the Savage test, the Wilcoxon test and the appropriate locally most powerful rank test by considering Pitman asymptotic relative efficiencies for several alternative hypotheses. Some of these tests exhibit considerable robustness in terms of efficiency for the various alternative hypotheses which are considered.     

A signed rank test for censored paired lifetimes

A locally most powerful signed rank test is proposed for the comparison of two independent lifetimes under the accelerated failure time model.

The test is based on N independent pairs(X_i, Y_i), i = 1, …, N: it is supposed that the shortest lifetime in each pair is observed and the experiment is stopped after r(r≤N and fixed) such lifetimes are available (type II censoring).

Actual scores of the test statistic are computed for some specific source distributions of the observations. The asymptotic distribution of the test statistic, as well as the asymptotic power and efficiency are given. The values of these efficiencies are computed for the case where the X_i follow and exponential, Weibull Gamma or Rayleigh distribution.     

Simple nonparametric tests for a known standard survival based on censored data

It is often of interest in survival analysis to test whether the distribution of lifetimes from which the sample under study was derived is the same as a reference distribution. The latter can be specified on the basis of previous studies or on subject matter considerations. In this paper several tests are developed for the above hypothesis, suitable for right-censored observations. The tests are based on modifications of Moses' one-sample limits of some classical two-sample rank tests. The asymptotic distributions of the test statistics are derived, consistency is established for alternatives which are stochastically ordered with respect to the null, and Pitman asymptotic efficiencies are calculated relative to competing tests. Simulated power comparisons are reported. An example is given with data on the survival times of lung cancer patients.     

Wavelet Estimation of an Unknown Function Observed with Correlated Noise

Tests based on rank statistics are introduced to test for systematic changes in a sequence of independent observations. Proposed tests include a rank test analogous to the parametric likelihood ratio test and others analogous to parametric Bayes tests. The tests are usable with either one- or two-sided alternative hypotheses, and their asymptotic distributions are studied. The results of the general model are applied to two special cases, and their asymptotic distributions are also investigated. A Monte Carlo study verifies the applicability of asymptotic critical points in samples of moderate size, and other simulation studies compare power of the competing tests and their special-case versions. Finally, these tests are applied to a data set of traffic fatalities.     

Linear rank tests under general alternatives,with application to summary statistics computed from repeated measures data

Linear rank tests are used extensively for comparing two or more groups of continuous outcomes. Tests in this class retain proper test size with minimal assumptions and can have high efficiency towards an alternative of interest. In recent years, these tests have been increasingly used in settings where an individual's observation is itself a scalar summary of several outcome measures. Here, simple distributional structures on the outcome variables can lead to complex differences between the distributions of summary statistics of the comparison groups. The local asymptotic power of linear rank tests when the groups are assumed to differ by a location or scale alternative has been studied in detail. However, not much is known about their behavior for other types of alternatives. To address this, we derive the asymptotic distribution of linear rank tests under a general contiguous alternative and then investigate the implications for location–scale families and more general settings, including an example drawn from an AIDS clinical trial where the continuous outcome is a summary statistic computed from repeated measures of a biological marker.     

Asymptotic relative efficiencies of r-estimators of location

A table of asymptotic relative efficiencies of a large variety of R-estimators is given and some of its uses discussed.The family of distributions used includes both those common in the robustness literature and those that correspondent to various rank tests for location.     

The Asymptotic Power Of Jonckheere-Type Tests For Ordered Alternatives

For the c -sample location problem with ordered alternatives, the test proposed by Barlow et al . (1972 p. 184) is an appropriate one under the model of normality. For non-normal data, however, there are rank tests which have higher power than the test of Barlow et al ., e.g. the Jonckheere test or so-called Jonckheere-type tests recently introduced and studied by Büning & Kössler (1996). In this paper the asymptotic power of the Jonckheere-type tests is computed by using results of Hájek (1968) which may be considered as extensions of the theorem of Chernoff & Savage (1958). Power studies via Monte Carlo simulation show that the asymptotic power values provide a good approximation to the finite ones even for moderate sample sizes.     

Rank tests for the k-sample problem with restricted alternatives

An asymptotically maximin most powerful rank test among somewhere asymptotically most powerful linear rank tests with scores generating function cf> is derived for each of the simple order alternative, the simple loop alternative and the simple tree alternative in the k-sample problem. The comparisons of the tests obtained with the rank analogues of the Bartholomew's xv tests are made in terms of local asymptotic relative efficiency. It is found that our tests are better than the rank analogues of the xk tests. Furthermore, the asymptotic equivalence of the ranking by the pooled sample to the ranking in pairs are discuss¬ed and the tests which are asymptotically equivalent to ours are given.     

Asymptotic efficiencies of estiamtors of location a comutational study

Asymptotic efficiencies of four classes of estimators of location are evaluated for a family of distributions consisting of t, lambda and contaminated normal densities. For the class of estimators derived from signed rank tests, maximin efficiencies between pairs of distributions in the family are computed using a formula of Gastwirth ( 1966 ). Asymptotic efficiencies are also evaluated for the scale dependent estimators of the form proposed by Hubcr ( 1964 ) and the efficiencies of procedures utilizing interquantiie ranges.are evaluated. Efficiencies of linear estimators such as trimmed means, BLUE's for the lambda family are computed for each density considered. Efficiencies of linear, polynomial and trigonometric approximations to BLUE weight functions are determined. Using the method of Birnbaum and Laska ( 1967 ) maximin efficiencies are computed using four linear or polynomial terms. On the basis of comparisons of these numerical results, suggestions for robust estimators are given     

C334. On the neutron and proton masses: a numerological case study

The intercomponent rank test suggested by Thompson (1991a) for the bivariate two sample problem is compared with the intracomponent rank test discussed by Puri and Sen (1971) and Hettmansperger (1984) and with the Hotelling T ² test. Asymptotic relative efficiencies are discussed and the results of a simulation study are presented. Power studies show that for small sample sizes and small Type 1 error rates, say n = 5 and α = .01, the intercomponent rank test of Thompson (1991a) is somewhat liberal and the intracomponent test is quite conservative. For larger sample sizes and larger Type 1 error rates, both rank tests have improved properties under the null hypothesis. In almost all simulated cases, the intercomponent test is more powerful. In light of these studies it is suggested that the intercomponent rank test of Thompson (1991a), which has the added advantage of being easily computed with standard statistical software, is a strong competitor to the intracomponent rank test.     

Some Properties of Non Inferiority Tests for Two Independent Probabilities

For exact tests of non inferiority for two independent binomial probabilities, in 1999 Röhmel and Mansmann proved that if a rejection region from an exact test fulfills the Barnard convexity condition, then the corresponding significance level can be computed as the maximum in a subset of the null space boundary. This is particularly important because computing time of significance levels is greatly reduced. Later, in 2000, Frick extended the Röhmel and Mansmann theorem to more general critical regions also corresponding to exact tests. In this article, we generalize Frick's theorem to both exact and asymptotic tests. Like the two theorems mentioned, in this article the resulting theorem also includes, as particular cases, non inferiority hypotheses for parameters such as difference between proportions, proportions ratio, and odds ratio for two independent binomial probabilities. Moreover, proof of this result follows a different line of reasoning than that followed by Frick and is much simpler. In addition, some applications of the main result are provided.     

Asymptotic power efficiency for a location and scale problem

The asymptotic power efficiency of the class of linear rank tests relative to the asymptotically most powerful rank test is derived for a two sample location and scale problem and numerical evaluations are presented for two special tests.     

Tests of symmetry derived as components of pearson's phi-squared distance measure

Rank statistics which arise as estimates of the first and third components of a frequency decomposition of Pearson's phi-squared distance measure, introduced by Eubank, LaRiccia, and Rosenstein (1987), are examined for their usefulness as tests of symmetry about a known median against various asymmetric alternatives, Pitman asymptotic relative efficiencies are used to compare the efficacies of the new statistics with classical test procedures, and empirical powers of the new tests are compared via simulation for a variety of asymmetric distributions. Statistics which arise from components based on Legendre polynomials are of particular interest. The first component is the familiar Wilcoxon signed rank statistic. The third component, which is a new statistic for this problem, exhibits a high level of sensitivity to a variety of asymmetric alternatives both asymptotically and in small sample studies.     

Testing the homogeneity of risk differences with sparse count data

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we consider testing the homogeneity of risk differences in independent binomial distributions especially when data are sparse. We point out some drawback of existing tests in either controlling a nominal size or obtaining powers through theoretical and numerical studies. The proposed test is designed to avoid the drawbacks of existing tests. We present the asymptotic null distribution and asymptotic power function for the proposed test. We also provide numerical studies including simulations and real data examples showing the proposed test has reliable results compared to existing testing procedures.     

A distribution-free rank-like test for scale with unequal population locations

The properties of a distribution-free rank-like test proposed by Moses (1963) for the twosample scale problem is studied and a modification of the test using Savage scores is proposed. It is shown that this rank-like test is superior to commonly used rank tests for scale in that it:(1) does not require the estimation of any location or centrality parameter, (2) does not require equal or known location parameters, (3) is robust for skewed data, (4) is resolving and (5) has some significant power advantages. The test is shown to be asymptotically normal, and asymptotic relative efficiencies are calculated. Power properties, studied via simulation, indicate that the test is especially well suited for testing for equality of scale when the data are sampled from skewed populations with unequal medians. Extensions to the J-sample problem are indicated.     

Data Driven Rank Test for Two-Sample Problem

Traditional linear rank tests are known to possess low power for large spectrum of alternatives. In this paper we introduce a new rank test possessing a considerably larger range of sensitivity than linear rank tests. The new test statistic is a sum of squares of some linear rank statistics while the number of summands is chosen via a data-based selection rule. Simulations show that the new test possesses high and stable power in situations when linear rank tests completely break down, while simultaneously it has almost the same power under alternatives which can be detected by standard linear rank tests. Our approach is illustrated by some practical examples. Theoretical support is given by deriving asymptotic null distribution of the test statistic and proving consistency of the new test under essentially any alternative.     

On the asymptotic efficiency of aligned-rank tests in randomized block designs

This paper is concerned with the ranking-after-alignment procedure, the alignment being made on the mean, in randomized block designs. The asymptotic efficiencies, as the number of blocks goes to infinity, of a class of aligned-rank tests, relative to the maximin most powerful test based on aligned observations, are established and studied. Some asymptotic efficiencies under doubleexponentiality are also obtained using Monte Carlo methods.     

Exact tests based on the Baumgartner-Weiß-Schindler statistic—A survey

It is the purpose of this paper to review recently-proposed exact tests based on the Baumgartner-Weiß-Schindler statistic and its modification. Except for the generalized Behrens-Fisher problem, these tests are broadly applicable, and they can be used to compare two groups irrespective of whether or not ties occur. In addition, a nonparametric trend test and a trend test for binomial proportions are possible. These exact tests are preferable to commonly-applied tests, such as the Wilcoxon rank sum test, in terms of both type I error rate and power.