An intermediate-precision approximation of the inverse cumulative normal distribution

Accurate methods used to evaluate the inverse of the standard normal cumulative distribution function at probability ρ commonly used today are too cumbersome and/or slow to obtain a large number of evaluations reasonably quickly, e.g., as required in certain Monte Carlo applications. Previously reported simple approximations all have a maximum absolute error ε_m > 10^-4 for a ρ-range of practical concern, such as Min[ρ,l?ρ]≥10_?6. An 11-term polynomial-based approximationis presented for which ε_m > 10^-6 in this range.     

Improved approximations for the inverse moments of the positive binomial distribution

Several alternatives to the most common approximation to the inverse moments of the positive binomial distribution are obtained. The method is based on equating moments and gives considerably better approximations for some values of the parameters.     

An approximation to the exact distribution of the wilcoxon-mann-whitney rank sum test statistic

An approximation to the exact distribution of the Wilcoxon rank sum test (Mann-Whitney U-test) and the Siegel-Tukey test based on a linear combination of the two-sample t-test applied to ranks and the normal approximation is compared with the usual normal approximation. The normal approximation results in a conservative test in the tails while the linear combination of the test statistics provides a test that has a very high percentage of agreement with tables of the exact distribution. Sample sizes 3≤m, n≤50 were considered.     

An approximation to the generalized hypergeometric distribution

A generalized hypergeometric (GHG) distribution was defined, and its higher order approximations were given by Takeuchi (1984). In this paper, an improvement on the approximation is considered and examined by the numerical calculation. Several examples including the Poisson, binomial, negative-binomial, hypergeometric and negative-hypergeometric distributions are also given.     

New approximation of the normal distribution function

Two new and simple expressions, one for 0 ≤ x ≤ 2 and another for x > 2, for the normal distribution function, are developed which can be easily computed on desk calculators. They are also comparable in accuracy to the one developed by Patry and Keller (1964).     

Negative moments of a modified power series distribution and bias of the maximum likelihood estimator

The class of Modified Power Series distributions (MPSD) containing Lagrangian Poisson (LPD) (Consul and Jain, 1973) and Lagrangian binomial distributions (LBD) (Jain and Consul, 1971) was studied by Gupta (1974). We investigate the problem of finding the negative momentsE[X^-r ], of displaced and decapitated Modified Power Series Distributions. We derive the relationship between rand (r-1) negative moments. The negative moments of the decapitated and displaced LPD are obtained. These results are, then, used to find the exact amount of bias in the ML estimators of the parameters in the LPD and the LBD. We have also given the variances of the ML estimator and the minimum variance unbiased estimator of the parameter in the LPD.     

An approximation to the distribution of the sample variance

A simple three-moment approximation is introduced for the distribution of the sample variance. Comparisons are given with other approximations discussed by Tan and Wong (1977) and with an approximation developed very recently by Mudholkar and Trivedi (1981).     

Recurrence relations for single and product moments of record values from generalized pareto distribution

In this paper we establish some recurrence relations satisfied by single and product moments of upper record values from the generalized Pareto distribution. It is shown that these relations may be used to obtain all the single and product moments of all record values in a simple recursive manner. We also show that similar results established recently by Balakrishnan and Ahsanullah (1993) for the upper record values from the exponential distribution may be deduced by letting the shape parameter p tend to 0.     

Discrimination between the binomial and hypergeometric models

This paper examines the problem of discerning whether sampling is being done with or without replacement. It is shown that with just one sample in the absence of additional information only a rather trivial solution is possible. For replicated samples, method of moments and graphically oriented procedures are considered. A simulation study reveals that there appears to be little advantage to employing any more sophisticated approach than the method of moments.     

Characterization of Lindley distribution by truncated moments

In the past few years, the Lindley distribution has gained popularity for modeling lifetime data as an alternative to the exponential distribution. This paper provides two new characterizations of the Lindley distribution. The first characterization is based on a relation between left truncated moments and failure rate function. The second characterization is based on a relation between right truncated moments and reversed failure rate function.     

An improved form of a recurrence relation on the product moments of order statistics

In this work, an improved version of an existing recurrence relation on the product moments of order statistics of a random sample of size n arising from an arbitrary distribution is derived.     

Recurrence relations for moments of progressive type-II right censored order statstics from burr distribution

In this paper some recurrence relations between moments of progressive Type-II right censored order statistics from doubly truncated Burr distribution are established. These recurrence relations would enable one to obtain all the single and product moments of Burr progressive Type-II right censored order statistics in a simple recursive manner.     

The distribution of the product of independent beta variables

We investigate the classic distribution and approximate distribution of the product of Beta variables which are independent. We show that the product of independent Beta variables is a Beta variable under the some assumptions. We also obtain the approximate distribution of the product of independent Beta variables.     

The inverse binomial distribution as a statistical model

A particular case of Jain and Consul's (1971) generalized neg-ative binomial distribution is studied. The name inverse binomial is suggested because of its close relation with the inverse Gaussian distribution. We develop statistical properties including conditional inference of a parameter. An application using real data is given.     

A new formula for the computation of multivariate factorized moments by using the joint cumulative distribution function

This work presents a closed formula to compute any muitivariate factorized expected value from the knowledge of the joint cumulative distribution function (cdf) of any random variable. Additionally, a new nonparametric estimator alternative to the sample average is presented for the univariate case.     

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.     

Recurrence relations for the moments of order statistics from a beta distribution

Certain recurrence relations for the single and product moments of the order statistics of a random sample of sizen arising from a beta distribution are derived. The usefulness of these relations in evaluating the single and product moments of beta order statistics is also discussed.     

Inverse moments of discrete distributions

In this paper an expression for the inverse moment of order r is given for the truncated binomial and Poisson distributions. This enables one to obtain inverse moments in a finite series. Some applications and multivariate generalizations are also given. The method also enables one to obtain relations between inverse moments and factorial moments and distributions of sums of variables.     

The unit-inverse Gaussian distribution: A new alternative to two-parameter distributions on the unit interval

A new two-parameter distribution over the unit interval, called the Unit-Inverse Gaussian distribution, is introduced and studied in detail. The proposed distribution shares many properties with other known distributions on the unit interval, such as Beta, Johnson S_B, Unit-Gamma, and Kumaraswamy distributions. Estimation of the parameters of the proposed distribution are obtained by transforming the data to the inverse Gaussian distribution. Unlike most distributions on the unit interval, the maximum likelihood or method of moments estimators of the parameters of the proposed distribution are expressed in simple closed forms which do not need iterative methods to compute. Application of the proposed distribution to a real data set shows better fit than many known two-parameter distributions on the unit interval.